The city of San Ramon said goodbye last month to its longest-standing, Gold Rush-era home when it was demolished following extensive fire damage over the summer.
The Harlan House – also dubbed “El Nido” or “the nest” – was found to be damaged beyond repair after it was hit by a significant blaze on July 16 that destroyed a majority of its roof and upper floor. It was demolished on Oct. 23.
As recently as that week, property owner Sohail Siddiqi and city planning officials had been in discussions over the planned renovation and preservation of the house as part of what had been set to be the El Nido residential care facility, developed in close partnership with the San Ramon Historic Foundation.
Siddiqi said that the San Ramon Police Department’s investigation into the fire had concluded with the apprehension of a group of juveniles whom he said confessed to the crime, with the case forwarded to the district attorney’s office.
A spokesperson for the DA said the office could not comment on juvenile cases.
SRPD officials confirmed that on the day of the fire, officers responded to the scene and began an arson investigation.
Witnesses reported seeing individuals fleeing the area shortly before the fire started. SRPD officers subsequently identified and located three juvenile suspects.
“Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that the fire was started by one of the juveniles,” SRPD officials told DanvilleSanRamon in an email. “Our investigation was completed, and the case was forwarded to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
The department could not release any additional information about the case due to the involvement of minors.
“The fire shattered the owner’s dream,” SRHF Board President Carol Rowley said. “The roof caved in and fell down to the first floor of the home! It could not be restored according to the historians, so the Harlan House had to be demolished and carted away.”
According to Lauren Barr, the city’s director of community development, the decision to demolish the remains of the structure came after the extent of the fire damage was thoroughly reviewed.
“An updated historic assessment of the house after the fire determined that the house was severely altered by the fire, no longer conveyed integrity as a pioneer-era wood frame residence, and would not qualify as a historical resource,” Barr said.
Barr said that the senior care facility planned for the site still has approval from the city “the timing of construction is unclear at this time”.
Siddiqi confirmed to DanvilleSanRamon that the assisted living facility continues to be in the works, but said that the destruction of the house – which was set to be a key feature in the new development – will result in additional delays, and additional costs on his end that he estimated to be at least seven figures.
“The issue we had is that the Harlan House was an integral part of our project design,” Siddiqi said. “Now that the house is gone, we have to redo some of our designs and resubmit it to the city. Obviously we had to incur the cost.”
Crowley said that despite mourning the demolition of the house, SRHF was looking toward preservation of the city’s other historic properties, specifically restoration of the 125-year-old Boone House.
“San Ramon has other historic homes at Forest Home Farm, San Ramon’s only Historic Park. The Glass House was restored, and now it is time for the Boone House, built in 1900, to be restored,” Crowley said.
She added that proceeds from the foundation’s annual crab feed in January are set to go toward the Boone House restoration.
