A Brief History

Welcome to the McHenry Mansion. This Victorian Italianate style house was built by Robert McHenry and his wife, Matilda in 1883. The architect was Jeremiah Robinson. It was considered by far the finest house in the area. The tax assessment for the property was originally valued at $15,000 but was reduced to $12,000. Evidently, Robert McHenry contested the amount. The term “mansion” to describe the house was used by the local newspapers even then and it continues to this day. The mansion consists in size of some 10,080 square feet. Additional property was acquired in 1887 and a substantial barn was constructed at that time.

Both Robert McHenry and his wife, Matilda Hewitt, had originally emigrated to California from the East, Robert being born in Vermont, and Matilda in Ohio. They married in 1859 and had one child, Oramil, born in 1861.

Their ranch, the Bald Eagle, came into being as the result of the gradual accumulation of property beginning initially with land by the Stanislaus River and ultimately stretching to Claribel Road along what is now called McHenry Avenue. (Roads were named after the major inhabitants on them, which was certainly the case with the McHenry’s.) We have no evidence that Robert did any serious gold-mining, instead he hauled supplies to the miners and then became a cattle rancher selling beef to them.  Robert had a butcher shop in Chinese Camp and then in Jacksonville.  He also began growing winter wheat on his ranch. But Robert was never one to pass up an opportunity to make a few dollars. For example, in 1887 he supplied 23 cords of wood to the Modesto Water Company. This more than paid for his water connection to the newly constructed barn on his expanded Modesto property. 

Robert McHenry also became involved in the banking business. In 1875 he was a director of the Farmers Savings Bank which merged in 1878 to become the Modesto Bank. The next year he was named its cashier in charge of day-to-day operations. In 1885 he founded and was President of the First National Bank of Modesto. He also personally lent money to many people in the area. Failure to repay the loan meant acquisition of their property which had been put up as collateral. All of these endeavors made it possible to acquire considerable wealth.

He was also very active in the development of irrigation and in civic affairs including chairman of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

The construction of the mansion in 1883 was a statement to his success. Why else would anyone build a house with six bedrooms, multiple parlors and two indoor bathrooms for a family of three?

After Robert’s death in 1890 and Matilda’s in 1896, their son Oramil inherited the McHenry holdings, including the mansion. He and his family lived in the house for a number of years. It remained his residence after his divorce from his first wife Louise and continued through his second marriage in May 1902 to Myrtie Conneau. It was during this second marriage that the house was remodeled and became the setting for many glamorous parties and gatherings. Oramil died in 1906 from colon cancer at the age of 44. His widow remarried in 1908 to William Langdon, who was the District Attorney of San Francisco. They maintained a home in Alameda as well as the local mansion until his term of office ended and then returned to Modesto. In 1919, the mansion became Elmwood Sanitarium. It remained as such until 1923 when the building was converted into apartments. Each major room became a studio apartment with a bathroom, kitchenette and wall bed. In order to do this, the front porch was enclosed for the bathrooms and kitchenettes adjoining the front two rooms. Similar arrangements were made for the rest of the house.

In 1976 the Julio R. Gallo Foundation purchased the Mansion for $150,000 and donated it to the City of Modesto to be restored and to be made available for community use.  As such, the Mansion has been the site of many weddings, anniversaries and other special occasions. It was only many years later that it became known that Aileen and Julio Gallo also gave a million dollars to the City of Modesto to aid in its restoration.