Hear ye, hear ye!
An historic property a block from First Street is on the market. Longtime Benician Pam Dixon, painter and sculptor, restorer of homes, gallery owner, and business woman extraordinaire is making a change. She’s selling her downtown home and studio, a showplace of important art and design, and downsizing. I asked her about the history of the property and she showed me a yellowed clipping from a 1979 Benicia Herald story.
Just a few doors down from the Inn at Benicia Bay her home sits on the lot of Benicia’s original Carr House built in the 1850s and used as a customs house when Benicia was a port during the early days of statehood. An old photo shows a pleasing one-story brick structure in the federalist style with a steep gable roof. A porch and Victorian era millwork was later added. A woman in an ankle-length skirt and blouse with leg of mutton sleeves, her hair piled in a bun, stands on the shady porch.
“Owners Richard and Sarah Carr shipped wheat to England.” the article reads. “One of the few brick houses still standing shows the growth of masonry over brick during the gold rush period due to the frequency of fires. Originally located on West K St., the house was moved by a mule team.” Decades later, Pam remembers seeing enormous earth moving vehicles lumbering down East D St. in front of the house, transforming marsh land into what is now the Benicia Marina. Her renters had to move out after they found a pile of sand and mortar on their bed.
After much lobbying, she was able to get the home onto the National Registry of Historical Places before it became apparent that the foundation had been destroyed by all of the rumbling and shaking. Vandals terrorized the property breaking hand blown glass windows among other indignities, and the City tore it down.
Pam’s mother, an elegant lady who ran the Fairmont Hotel gift shop in San Francisco, decided she wanted to live on the property. So, Pam began the process of building a new home. Purchasing plans for a Linwood Custom Home, she modified and upgraded the design with antique wooden columns, maple flooring and moldings from Canada, and high-end windows. “My intent was to build a home that would fit into the neighborhood,” she told me. “It’s basically a Craftsman without the brown shingles.”
The house sits among a variety of fruit trees, providing Pam fresh squeezed juice every morning.
Later, she erected a barn to use as her studio. “Robert Arneson came by one day and admired my barn. He later built a similar structure on First Street where his home/studio still stands,” she said. A separate commercial office space on the double-wide lot has been retrofitted to become a small home surrounded by an antique brick patio comprised of $2000 worth of used brick that Pam scored from the Old Solano Hotel in Vallejo before it was demolished.
Inside the front door sitting on an old trunk are a pair of red and turquoise cowboy boots. “These were Manuel’s,” Pam said. “He wore them every day in his studio in the old church,” she said. Mounted next to Neri’s boots is his favorite work glove which she had cast in bronze. Both are promised to Arts Benicia.
Pam showed me through the barn where she is preparing for an extensive estate and art sale next month. Her own ceramics, paintings, sculpture, and works on paper have been removed from the main house for staging and are artfully organized on worktables in the studio. A ceiling high cabinet with dozens of drawers is filled with treasures, jewelry from her years of designing for Saks Fifth Ave, vintage collectibles, passementerie, accessories, and more. In the corner is a rack of designer suits, hats, and shoes. Everything will be up for sale sometime in September. Forget about downsizing for now, this one is too good to miss. September listing: homesbycultivate.com
The friendly fellow at the front desk of my gym was scrolling through plans on his computer, answering questions, offering free bottles of water to members, and making phone calls. Hector Zavala, a 15 year resident of Benicia, recently purchased Benicia Fitness and has major plans for making the gym a mainstay of our community. A serial entrepreneur, former athlete, and community activist, Hector said, “We want to be a blessing to the community.” He knows a lot about community. He grew up the child of migrant farmworkers who moved from job to job, living without electricity and plumbing and picking crops to keep food on the table
He uses the word “blessed” often to signal his intentions. Making his way from poverty into becoming a successful businessman informed his values — generosity and gratitude. He owned a a restaurant next to the University of Oregon earlier in his career and regularly gave away 2000 burritos/month.
Hector’s plans for the First Street campus are dramatic and forward thinking — move all of the weight equipment into a back building that is now a furniture warehouse, turn the patio area into a cross fit obstacle course for first responders and others, hold self defense classes for women and girls, bring in new instructors in dance, Zumba, yoga, offer classes in nutrition, health, tai chi, and boxing conditioning. “We want to give back to the community while growing a business that is an asset to Benicia,” he said.
Was particularly excited about his plans to collaborate with other local businesses and nonprofits to fill gaps in Benicia’s safety net. He works a full shift every day at the gym to get to know members who he greets by name.
“I see heading up campaigns that are tied to a particular cause,” Hector said. As a former athlete he is particularly interested in promoting student athletics. “School sports have become so expensive. Regular families can’t afford the equipment. We’d like to partner with the medical sector by providing physicals so that kids can participate in sports. Membership drives will feature food giveaways, toy drives, sports scholarships, and more.” Exciting stuff.
As I left, he said, “I tell this to all the women in my family — ‘Wear a baseball cap while driving at night.’ It’s difficult to tell whether the driver is a man or a woman,” he said. If they think you’re a man, they won’t want to mess with you and will move on.” Duly noted.
Letters From Benicia 