Fire burns historic 1850s Harlan House in San Ramon, city's oldest home from Gold Rush era
A fire in San Ramon Wednesday morning severely damaged the historic 19th-century Harlan House, also known as El Nido House, which has ties to the California Gold Rush.
The fire burned at about 10:30 a.m. at the building located on San Ramon Valley Boulevard between Westside Drive and Woodborough Way, just west of Interstate Highway 680.
The San Ramon Valley Fire District said the two-story building was actively involved when firefighters arrived. There were no injuries in the fire, and the cause was under investigation, the Fire District said. The fire destroyed the roof and attic area and appeared to have gutted most of the building.
The current owner of the building and the land surrounding it, Sohail Siddiqi, told CBS News Bay Area that the El Nido House has been plagued by trespassers over the years. He also said that firefighters told him that arson was suspected.
"They have some, a few people of interest. They are talking to them, they are investigating," Siddiqi said. "We don't know who they are. Apparently, somebody made a video of some kids moving away from the property when the fire started. So, we don't know all of that detail. Police is investigating, fire department is investigating, so once they know all of the details, we will find out."
The home is the oldest building in the city of San Ramon, built in 1852 by Joel and Minerva Fowler Harlan with earnings from gold prospecting. Members of the Harlan family moved from Michigan to California in 1848 after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in El Dorado County, .
The Harlan House was built on what later became the Alameda-Contra Costa county line, and was dismantled and moved several miles north to its present location in 1858 when Joel Harlan began receiving property tax bills from both counties, .
The house was called "El Nido," or "the nest" in Spanish, likely referring to the Harlans' nine children they raised in the home.
Siddiqi said he had plans to at the site, but the project has been mired in red tape, and the home has remained unoccupied for decades. Previous plans had included moving the home to a different location and demolishing the building, with the .
Siddiqi and San Ramon leaders had pushed to preserve the building as part of the city's and California's history.
"Unfortunately, the whole process has been dragging along. We have an application that has been reviewed for almost three years now and [what to do with the Harlan House] has been the only sticking point," said Siddiqi. "This was the fear all along, either this building would collapse on its own, or there'll be some kind of arson."
Siddiqi said it was unclear whether the building could be restored or rebuilt as a replica.
