The Parish-Voss House is a very pure example of the Gothic Revival style of house popular in this country between 1840 and 1860. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, and Gothic Revival, along with Italianate, were the earliest of the Victorian styles. Examples of this style in the gold country (or California) are relatively few.

Charles L. Parish was a builder, artist and architect who resided in Jackson in the 1850’s and later. He came originally from New York, and studied architecture in New Haven, Connecticut. He was responsible for drawing the earliest views of several cities in the area, including Jackson, Volcano, and Mokelumne Hill. He had a shop on Water Street and in the late 1850’s designed and began building his house, completed by 1860 and in 1861 becoming first prize in “C. L. Parish’s Gift and Musical Entertainment” raffle where it was won by the Amador County sheriff.

According to his great grand daughter Betty Cleves, Charles Parish was in love with a local school teacher and built the house hoping she would marry him. After three years, when this didn't happen, he put the house up for raffle and, in 1861, went back to Lowville, NY. There he met his future wife, Delia, who he brought back to California.

The design of the house, like other gothic revival houses,  is inspired by medieval castles and cathedrals;  It is built in the shape of a cross and includes three large arched windows, one at the top of the stairs and two in bedrooms (one bedroom has been converted to a bathroom). These are known as “triple lancet” windows and are modeled after 13th century windows built of stone rather than wood.

The recreated porch roof is edged with wooden “battlements”, also known as crenellations or castellations, in the manner of a castle. The house had 3 large finials and pendants at the outer ridge of each of the front three gables, and 3 ornamental chimney pots at the inner ridges. There was roof cresting on all the ridges, and jigsawed barge board trim on all barge boards other than in the back.

The house is built using mortise and tenon joinery, all horizontal beams having square mortises chiseled into them. Each stud has a corresponding tenon that fits into the beam’s mortise. Studs are placed randomly from 13 inches to 17 ½ inches apart. The downstairs floors are 8 inch tongue and groove planks made from yellow pine, having no sub floor. The upstairs floors are random width planks of yellow pine, varying from 6 inches to 16 inches.

The entire house is built of yellow pine (ponderosa pine), as were most gold country houses of the period. It was locally available and appears to be an extremely durable and pest resistant wood. Some of the first floor joists have sat directly on the ground for almost 150 years and look like new.

The foundation was both brick and rock. The one story dining room and kitchen as well as the back porch were built on small piles of rock placed about 6 feet apart, which supported continuous 4” x 6” beams around the perimeter. The main house is supported primarily by a brick foundation, which continues around the front of the porch, but does not support the front of the house which is under the porch. Apparently the brick foundations were for show, as all parts of the foundation that were not visible were supported by stone, which have been replaced by a continuous concrete foundation. The beams under the house are still supported by rocks.

Most doors and windows, as well as trim, are original to the house, although some of the six-over-six windows, the double pocket doors and one of the French doors had to be re-created.

 

Points of interest

 The bay on the West side of the house and the door on the East side of the porch are fakes, put there to balance the real ones on the opposite sides.

 The porch has been changed several times. The battlements on the parapet were changed to cut out pine trees by 1880, a steeper pitched roof put on after 1880, another roof and a Queen Anne porch ca. 1900-1910. This porch lasted until 2004 when the current one was reconstructed using old pictures, paint and evidence from remaining structural pieces.

 The original paint color of the siding was almost the same as the lighter color in the front door today. Rose colors and pinks were common in Gothic houses of the time.

 Although some original features of the house had been removed, much of it more than 100 years ago, most of it was saved. Original shutters for every window in the house were saved, except for one pair of French door shutters. Two of the three 5 foot finials from the roof were saved, having been sawed off from their lower pendants sometime after 1934, probably for a roof job. The pendant from the East side of the roof was also kept. New finials and pendants were turned using the materials from the old redwood porch posts, and the old ones stored. The large triple lancet window over the porch and the front French doors were removed and replaced at the time the fourth porch was put on. The originals were saved and have been put back.

 

back parlor

Superior Court judge George Moore was shot here. Although the belief by the locals was that he was murdered, the coroner’s report declared it a suicide, mostly on lack of evidence to the contrary. A witness saw judge Moore on the porch quickly turn his head around as if hearing an intruder, then going into the house prior to the shooting. People came and went at will at the crime scene,  moving the gun and bullet before leaving the scene and going to breakfast. Not exactly CSI standards.

 

In the 1930’s a porch addition with a bedroom and bathroom was put on the house by the McFarland’s. Neighbors that still remember that time say it was done because Daisy McFarland had become very ill, and she stayed there until she died. At that time the French door on the East side was removed and a smaller door into the new bedroom placed in the North East corner.

 

Notes on 19th century architecture
Gothic Revival and Italianate were the first of the “Romantic” styles of architecture that also included the Second Empire, and later in the century the Romanesque, Eastlake and Queen Anne. This period continued until around the turn of the century.

The Romantic Revival styles were preceded in the 19th century by the Classical Revival styles such as Federal, Adam and Greek revival. The Greek revival endured through the 1850’s in the Gold Country and there are many examples still standing, most built between 1850 and 1860, although in older areas of the country this was the dominant style for public and domestic building from the 1830’s.

The Gothic Revival was inspired by the medieval period that lasted in Europe between the 13th and 17th centuries. It was popularized by the Gothic romance novels of Sir Walter Scott and made available to builders in this country at mid century through the plan books of Alexander Jackson Downing and Andrew Jackson Davis. Many churches are even now built in this style.

Also influential was an architect named William Ranlett, who published a periodical named “The Architect” that published many of his designs in the 1840’s. These were later incorporated into two books, Volumes I and II of “The Architect”. Ranlett’s influence is seen in the massing of the house, and Davis’ in the windows.