The Wallpaper Inside This California Victorian Costs More Than a Lot of Homes

Delivers the most important property news around the world to your inbox each weekday

A historic Queen Anne-style home in Escondido, Calif., has long been associated with innovation—most recently for its interior decoration, and in its earliest days for attracting some of the businessmen, philanthropists and inventors who helped shape Escondido and southern California in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The estate was built in 1896 for Albert H. Beach and his wife, Anna. Beach was a real-estate broker and insurance salesman who owned one of the first businesses in Escondido and later helped develop properties in Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, including Beachwood Canyon, which bears his name. An inventor, Henry W. Putnam, was the second owner. He came up with a design for a bottle stopper for liquid drinks, a wire-fence barbing machine and an adjustable clothes wringer for laundry. He also helped develop Escondido's water system.

Another inventor, Henry Timken, bought the house in 1909 as a wedding present for his daughter Amelia when she married philanthropist Appleton Bridges. Timken created an improved carriage spring and then patented an improved tapered roller bearing used in industrial applications to reduce friction. The couple lived in the home until 1914. The Timken Museum of Art in San Diego, about 30 miles away, bears the family name.

In this century, the home has become known for its meticulous restoration, as well as for its extravagantly wallpapered interior. Now, the 3,300-square-foot home, with four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, set on a 0.45-acre corner lot overlooking Escondido's historic district, is listed for $2.25 million. Jeff Walker, broker and founder of Agents of Architecture, is handling the sale.

Julie Anne Moore, a retired nurse, and her husband, Mark Moore, who works in the film industry, are selling the estate. They bought the home for $1 million in 2016. The couple plan to stay in the area and find a home with downstairs living space for Mark's mother.

MANSION GLOBAL BOUTIQUE: Mansion Global Host Katrina Campins's Guide to Staging Your Home Right

The Moores purchased the property from art dealer and collector Harry Parashis and his wife, Letitia Parashis, who bought the property in 1998 for $288,000, then spent several years and about $3 million renovating it. It took a crew of architectural experts and craftsmen to reverse years of deterioration to create a Victorian showpiece, said Letitia Parashis, whose husband died in 2020.

Some $400,000 was spent on the wallpaper alone. The rooms are decorated in hand-printed Bradbury & Bradbury roomsets—or combinations of wallpaper patterns covering the walls and ceilings. Julie Anne counted 26 patterns used in the living room. Only the kitchen and downstairs bathroom are without these wall treatments.

The roomsets are either reproductions of original papers or inspired by patterns from the period, said Lisa Bauer, an owner of Bradbury & Bradbury. Letitia Parashis remembered the wallpapers in the living room. "At certain times it looked burgundy and teal, and at other times it looked gold and green," she said.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 and now benefits from the Mills Act, a California program promoting the restoration and preservation of historic buildings by private owners. Since qualifying for the Mills Act in 2018, property taxes are $3,366 a year, instead of about $12,500, and are transferable to a new owner, said Walker.

More: If You Think This Grand English Manor Is Old—Check out the 1,700-Year-Old Roman Ruins in the Backyard

The home was built using 125-year-old redwood and still has its original floors of quarter-sawn oak. The living room also retains its original cove ceiling. The renovation included installing hand-crafted replica doors and period-appropriate hardware.

On the first floor, the staircase, trim, pocket doors and baseboards are Philippine Mahogany, according to Tokeli Baker, president of the Escondido Art Association. To avoid nicking the wallpaper, picture rails were fashioned using original redwood sourced from the attic space.

All of the home's interiors are outfitted in original or historically appropriate fabrics, furnishings and lighting fixtures. The updated kitchen has some original Victorian tiles and a dining room has its original picture window with stained-glass detailing. All windows in the home are original, including Florentine-style panes in the master bathroom that cast natural light on a 6-foot, wood-trim bathtub with nickel-plated legs and bronze inset. All the bathrooms feature genuine embossed porcelain toilets, said the current owners.

"Initially, it took us a few to months to feel like we didn't live in a hotel. It's a museum-quality house," said Julie Anne Moore.

More: Century-Old Santa Fe Home Hits Open Market for First Time Ever for $7.3 Million

Outside, formal gardens were added during the renovation, as was the antique Italian fountain, which is surrounded by a maze of boxwood hedges evocative of an English Garden. The willow arbor—a gathering spot for guests—is based on a Victorian design and includes heirloom roses and assorted wisterias.

The Victorian Swiss-style gazebo isn't original to the property, but is based on a design from an 1880s architecture book by the William T. Comstock Co., said Mark Moore. A gold-tip, hand-welded privacy fence hems in the property. Plumbing and electrical systems were updated during the Parashis renovation.

The Moores completed some remaining projects around the house, such as finishing built-ins, installing hardware and updating the sprinkler and alarm systems. Outside, they repaired the front retaining wall to match the original infrastructure, completed painting the gazebo and worked with a horticulturalist to refine the landscaping.

Julie Anne Moore, a passionate gardener, created the rose garden and attends to scentscaping the outdoor areas. "I really made sure the grounds were filled with fragrance, like the Victorians," she said. She also planted a moonlight garden, another Victorian-era concept, featuring a panoply of white flowers, such as gardenias and lilies that shimmer in the moonlight.

Delivers the most important property news around the world to your inbox each weekday