State of Grace

The three-story Victorian at 817 E. 24th St., built in the 1870s,was connected to Oakland's transformation from pastoral town to industrialcity. But most of its years told of the underbelly of this transformation.

Moldy, path-worn carpets and scarred linoleum covered the floors.Dropped ceilings sagged and shed their panels under the weight of theirdecline. Few details remained that recalled the house's halcyon days, more thana century back, when it was home to Francis Marion Smith, one of Oakland's mostprominent residents.

The exterior remained true to its period, but most of theinterior's original detail had been eliminated or ruined over the years as theplace was carved up into a graffiti-covered squalor of small apartments andsquatters' nooks.

Even so, the house was a real find for its current owner, JasonPorter, who bought it in foreclosure in 1999 after searching for"something really big and really cheap."

Porter had a strong idea of its potential but only a vague notionabout how to begin reclaiming it. "I was pretty naive at first," saidPorter. "I had no plan. I just thought, ÔI'll make it work.' "

At first Porter thought he'd go slowly, room by room. A lot ofpeople redoing old houses think that, and soon they're in a money pit.

"Most people who take on old houses in neighborhoods likeEast Oakland have more weekends than money," said Helaine Prentice, aplanner who specialized in preparing historic landmark cases for the city'sbuilding department. "They have a love and respect for these treasures,but in the end, many lack the resources to follow through."

Porter had a good job as international news editor for Yahoo!. Healso knew Michael Mullin, an architect who persuaded him to do a coordinatedand comprehensive rehabilitation.

Porter then enlisted his musician/ tradesman friends to do much ofthe work, which covered everything from the foundation to the roof. They tookthe house back to the original framing, saving what architectural details theycould. They did reveal and restore much of the original flooring, including theparlor floors in what are now the rental units, which are artfully inlaid withoak, walnut and mahogany.

In fits and starts, they worked on the place for two years. In2000, when the work began, there was a lot less largesse being spread around inthe dot- com world than there'd been.

Porter did his best to keep things moving despite uncertaintyabout the future. In 2001, Yahoo shipped him to London for a year. His friendscarried on without him. The results evince the devotion the old house needed.It's now three comfortable, contemporary units that celebrate the solidity andcraft of the original house.

Porter hasn't tallied his total investment in the house, but heestimates it will exceed $500,000. As yet he has no idea whether, in terms ofequity at least, he's invested too much.

ForPorter the thorough rehabilitation is its own reward. He has provided himselfwith a proud stake in the world and this street of stucco-box apartments withthe kind of landmark it needs most, one that has returned to a state of*grace*.