Sheridan School was built in 1890. For more than 50 years it functioned as the sole schoolhouse in Monte Rio, CA, a “vacation wonderland” on the Russian River. It was decommissioned in 1942. Sometime after 1924, when we have a photo of it showing no outbuildings, the outhouse disappeared and two additional buildings were added – one, a one-bedroom cabin, the other, a shed. We bought it from Julie, who had lived in it for 35 years.
The Schoolhouse, seen from the back - note funky back porch, funky back stairs, funky shed
It was a two-bedroom, one-bath house, but the bedrooms were tiny – one not big enough for a queen bed, the other, just, both with 1970s-era lofts.
Loft
It also had a “bonus room” that clearly had begun life as a screened-in back porch, before being enclosed. The bathroom and former screened in porch were cantilevered crazily off the side and back of the house. The main room had been carved up to make room for the bedrooms. The yard was a wasteland of bare dirt (due to health problems, Julie had stopped gardening years before) marked only by a cesspool with a broken cover. It had a partial foundation, dry rot, and wood boring beetles. We loved it at first sight.
Dry rot on the main beam
