Design: Cheers for a Born-Again Capitol

California gets a big Victorian bang for its buck

California's 107-year-old capitol in Sacramento was draped in festive bunting last week to mark the official debut of the most expensive and extensive single renovation of a historic building in U.S. history. After touring the $67.7 million restoration, which took six years to complete, flamboyant Willie Brown Jr., speaker of the California assembly, boasted: "It's the eighth wonder of the world. It is the most significant physical structure in the state of California."

Indeed, the four floors of the historic west wing, labored over by 2,000 construction workers and hundreds of special craftsmen, do gleam with turn-of-the-century opulence. From 6,000 sq. ft. of marble mosaic floors, up monumental stairways, past trompe I'oeil wall panels, rich brocaded drapes and gaslight-era crystal chandeliers to the newly bronzed dome, the 66 rooms resound with memories of cattle barons, gold-rush millionaires and homesteaders from earlier eras. One carefully repaired mosaic depicts Minerva deep in thought, accompanied by the state symbol: a grizzly bear. That symbolic partnership of classical restraint and belligerent frontier exuberance not only characterizes the intent of the capitol's original builders, but speaks for the restoration itself. Says Architect Raymond Girvigian, the project's chief historian, "History provides the binding force that welds people together. This, now, is a functional building that people can walk through like a work of art. How much more of a bang for your buck can you get?"

In 1972 the only bang talked about in the area was the one feared by local seismologists. Weakened by age and decay, the aging structure was likely to collapse in even a moderate earthquake. After three years of strident debate, the legislature discarded the idea of new $100 million office towers and opted for renewal.

Chief Architect Robert Mathews of Welton Becket Associates began by "unbuilding" the interior. The task was complicated: the original building plans had disappeared over the years. Assembling old photos, early Sears catalogues and newspapers for pictures of authentic decor, "historians found some clues right in the building—a bit of plaster under the assembly speaker's podium became a model for the style of the ceiling molding. Girvigian, scrambling through false ceilings, uncovered keys to the original paint job. Researchers used aerial cameras to map the mosaic floors, which were then taken up, moved and cleaned. Piece by numbered piece, all the contents of the building were catalogued and carted away for refinishing, until only the hard-fired brick shell remained. It was reinforced with concrete, and 20,000 new bolts and the dome received a $500,000 bracing system.

Reassembly of the interior was a more detailed and painstaking work. Bear heads, for instance, were carved on newel posts, faithful to an old photograph and to a few pieces of the original stairway which were found in a Sacramento church. The mint-green assembly chamber now dazzles visitors with its crystal chandeliers and 1870s carved desks. The smaller but richer senate chamber blushes with rose carpeting and brocade drapery. Nine other rooms, including offices of former Governors, have been restored as an exhibit at a cost of $1.7 million.