History
of Our Home
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History T.J. Frost, Architect |
ART |
HOME DÉCOR |
GARDEN |
SKIN CARE |
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HISTORY |
334 Main Street in the Victorian Village of Ferndale, California |
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Arnold Berding contracted T.J. Frost to build the Eastlake-Stick style building in 1895. The Reliable Store, a men’s clothier, occupied the retail space until 1920. Over the years the building has been used as a Buick dealership, grocery store, church meeting hall, mortuary, roller skating rink, stove shop, Eifert Gallery, and the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association. After the building next door, home of The Ferndale Enterprise newspaper, burned down in the early 1920s, part of the land was purchased to construct a driveway. This gave the hearse access to the rear of the building and allowed deliveries to be made to the loading dock. Few of Ferndale's buildings have adjacent-owned driveway access to the rear of their buildings. A smaller Enterprise office was built next door; today it is a real estate office. The building might have lost its character in the 1950s and '60s, but a campaign by Viola McBride and Hazel Waldner saved many of Ferndale's stately Victorians, including the old Reliable Store, from the modernization craze that had been turning the historic structures into flat stucco fronts on Main Streets across the nation. McBride persuaded good friend Mildred Radanovich to purchase the building and help her to establish Ferndale as a location that supported and promoted the arts. Radanovich rented the building at a very nominal fee with the understanding that the usage would always promote culture. It remained in the Radanovich family until 2001. A plaque honoring her memory now graces the building she loved. In 2001 Gordon and Sharon Green purchased the building, retaining its mission and continue to promote artists at their Ferndale Emporium. In addition, quality gifts, garden, décor and personal care items are now available seven days a week at 334 Main Street. |
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2007 © Ferndale Emporium |
