The Ollis-Plumado House was built around 1859 on property that once held a gold stamp mill.

Mr. Plumado, age 64, with Madeline Jacox (1894)

The original owner, A. Vedder, sold it in 1862 to Henry Ollis for $100. Mr. Ollis at one time employed John "Wheelbarrow Johnny" Studebaker before he began making wagons and later automobiles.

In 1874, the house was sold to the Plumado family for $600 in gold, and it remained in that family for 75 years. The magnolia trees still growing along one side of the property were planted by the original Mrs. Plumado.

Before the days of indoor plumbing, a two-seater outhouse sat across the creek at the back end of the property. The foundation of the house is built on old tombstones

Frankie (Plumado) Fairchild

that had mistakes and could not be used for their original purpose. All bricks in the house were hand-made in Placerville, and the placerite stone was cut by hammer and chisel.

The Cottage, one of two extra buildings on the grounds, was originally a chicken coop and was later rebuilt as a home for a seamstress, known to everyone as Miss Jo. (She is thought to be the lady standing on the porch in the old Plumado House photo above.)

Frankie (Plumado) and Will Fairchild with Mrs. Plumado (then 83) and an unidentified man and woman in 1924

Before Bedford Avenue was paved, it was lined with poplars and was lower than the current street level. What is now the main floor of the house with the parlour, dining room and kitchen, was once the second floor with two bedrooms. Later owners replaced the marble fireplace in the parlour with one built of stones that they had hand-picked in travels to various places.