History Comes Alive Sunday at the Galindo House

The fine powder of sheet rock work was in the air Monday when Patch visited the Galindo House, but it will be cleaned up by Sunday, when the Concord historical treasure will host an ice cream social with Dixieland jazz music, artists-in-action art sale, a silent auction and refreshments.

“It will look very much what it looked in 1856 (when it was built) and then the front addition (with the porch that is visible from Clayton Road) in 1875,” said Chuck Gabrysiak, who is overseeing the renovation and “architectural forensics” for the Concord Historical Society.

“This will be the first public access to the Galindo House in over 15 years,” said historical society President Lloyd Crenna.

The house was built in 1856 for Maria Dolores Manuela Pacheco, the daughter of pioneer settler Don Salvio Pacheco, and her husband, Don Francisco Galindo. The last direct descendant of the family, Ruth Galindo, lived there until her death in 1999, when it was willed to the city of Concord. The city in turn deeded it to the Concord Historical Society last year for $1.

Ruth Galindo was his Spanish teacher for a couple of years at Mount Diablo High, Gabrysiak said.

The historical society inherited many of the items that filled the house, including furniture, clothing and kitchen utensils. They are in storage and the society will sift through the collection in coming months and decide what to adorn the house with, Gabrysiak said. There is even a mantilla, a lacy headdress originally from Spain that was passed down through the generations.

The historical society has painted the house gray with dark gray trim and gold accents, shored up a sagging side of the structure, installed new ducts, heating and air conditioning, and added historically appropriate landscaping, Gabrysiak said. When the house was built, there was no city around it — to the northwest it looked out on marshes before Walnut Creek was enclosed in a concrete channel.

Visitors may see the marshes as they use their imaginations looking out from the porch from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission to the social is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 3-12 and free younger than 3. Proceeds will go to the Concord Historical Society Museum Building Fund.

The Galindo House is at 1721 Amador Ave., just off Clayton Road.

The next public access at the Galindo House may be a Christmas event, Gabrysiak said.