The Hinds Hotel (also known as the Freestone House, Freestone Hotel, Park House, and Wayside Inn) is a historic building located in

Freestone, California Freestone is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. A former stone and logging town, Freestone is the entryway to the Bohemian Highway. In 1974, Freestone became the first historic district named by So ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Built in 1876, the Hinds Hotel is a former hotel, antique store and plant nursery. Today, it serves as a private commercial business and home. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and has been named a

California Historic Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

and a Sonoma County Historic Landmark.

History

The 32-room Hinds Hotel was built in August 1876 by Hollis B. Hinds.Lang and Schultz, 11. A farmer, Hinds moved to

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

in 1863 from Tennessee. He built the hotel upon the announcement that the

North Pacific Coast Railroad The North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) was a common carrier narrow-gauge steam railroad begun in 1874 and sold in 1902 to new owners who renamed it the North Shore Railroad (California) (NSR) and rebuilt the southern section into a standard-ga ...

would start serving Freestone, which would serve as the

terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

. The hotel was frequently used by carpenters working on the railroad line. According to first hand reports, the

innkeeper Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

at the Hinds Hotel intentionally had parts of a nearby bridge, that the carpenters were building, burned at night, delaying the completion of work in order to retain his client base longer. The innkeeper would serve time in jail for his efforts. As of 1910, the building was called Park House and in the 1930s it was called the Wayside Inn. By 1930, railroad service had stopped and the train tracks were removed in Freestone. By the mid-20th century, the property served as a plant nursery. The building, as well as the surrounding 22-acres, was purchased by Tom Golden and Jim Kidder in 1970. The building served as their private home. The home served as the "social headquarters" during the design and installation of the landmark installation art piece, ''

Running Fence ''Running Fence'' was an installation art piece by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, which was completed in California on September 10, 1976. The art installation was first conceived in 1972, but the actual project took more than four years to plan an ...

'' by

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks a ...

. In 1974, the Sonoma County Landmarks Commission designated the Hinds Hotel as a

historic landmark A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. The Hinds Hotel is a part of the Freestone Historic District.Lang and Schultz, ii.

Architecture

A two-story wood-frame building, the hotel is built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style. It was originally built as an L-shaped building. Prior to 1902, a balcony was added to the building. The original three step platform in the front of the building was restored. The building is built using

shiplap Shiplap is a type of wooden board used commonly as exterior siding (construction), siding in the construction of residences, barns, sheds, and outbuildings. Exterior walls Shiplap is either rough-sawn or milled pine or similarly inexpensive woo ...

siding. Flat trim surrounds the six over six double hung sash windows. The entry doors on the lower floor are symmetrically placed and are embellished with stained glass. The side door entry has a single, paned door with colored glass sidelights and traces. The

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

has center gables in two main sections of the front facades. The roof is trimmed with a plain

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

and wide frieze board. The board extends down the corners to the trim around the top of the platform. There are Gothic windows under the center gables, comprising a central pointed arch glass door with narrower, shorter pointed arched windows at each side, which are topped with label molding.

Gallery

Hinds House - c 1876.png, Hinds Hotel circa 1876 Hinds Hotel - Historical Atlas Map of Sonoma County California 1877.png, Hinds Hotel as illustrated in the ''Historical Atlas Map of Sonoma County California'' in 1877 Hinds Hotel - NPS.jpg, Hinds Hotel in 1979

References

Footnotes

Sources

*Lang, Jennifer and Schultz, Erica. ''Freestone Historic District Survey and Design Guidelines Update, Freestone, Sonoma County, California.'' Garcia and Associates (San Anselmo). 2010.

External links

{{commons category
Freestone House
via the Historical Marker Database * *List of California Historical Landmarks Hotel buildings completed in 1873 Defunct hotels in California