For over 50 years, the Kelley House has been a center of historical collecting and research on the Mendocino Coast. The house was built in 1861 for William and Eliza Kelley, who raised four children in the home. The property remained in the family for many years and was used as a rental home until the early 1970s when it took on a new life.
In 1969, Beth Stebbins and Dorothy Bear moved to Mendocino from Palm Springs. The two women were interested in the town’s history. They met many local historians, including Nannie and Emery Escola, and began researching Mendocino’s pioneer families and early history. In 1973, Stebbins and Bear established the Mendocino Historical Research, Inc. (MHRI) and published “Mendocino,” a brief history of the town’s architecture, families, and more.
The following year, the hunt for a formal headquarters for the MHRI began. The Kelley house had fallen into such disrepair by 1973 it was suggested it should perhaps be demolished. Stebbins and Bear began a fundraising campaign to acquire the house, believing it too important to be torn down, but they could not raise the full amount necessary to purchase the property.
In stepped Robert O. Peterson, founder of the fast-food chain Jack in the Box. Peterson’s roots were tied to Mendocino; his grandfather worked in the lumber mill and his father was born here. In 1975, Peterson bought the historic Mendocino Hotel on Main Street and the Kelley property, gifting the latter to MHRI under the condition that the house only be used for preservation purposes, not commercial gain. Stebbins and Bear now had a headquarters for their work and a huge restoration project on their plates!
It took ten years to complete the initial restoration efforts, which included repairing the foundation, re-wiring the electrical system, and moving plumbing pipes. The upstairs bedrooms were initially used as storage for a growing archival collection, and the downstairs was used as offices and exhibit space. In 1993, an environmentally controlled archive was built, which now stores 10,000+ photographs and artifacts. Later renamed the Kelley House Museum, the organization continues Bear and Stebbins’ mission of preserving and sharing Mendocino’s history.
Averee McNear is the curator of Kelley House Museum.