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Our Fundraising Drive for 2024

The Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland (V.P.C.O.) is a non-profit organization that was created in 1989 to preserve and restore the Cohen Bray House. Ours is a small organization; 100% of your much-needed donations and membership dues help us realize our mission to conserve, maintain and restore this one-of-a-kind house and property. We also share its history with the public, historic preservation organizations and educational institutions. 


 Our mission puts into practice everyday maintenance and outreach projects that have been completed- thanks to you and your support:

 

Projects completed:

  • Updated plumbing, electrical and gas repairs for safety and to avoid fire and water damage in the house and back buildings.

  • Interns and graduate students added 2,000 more items were added into our catalog program.

  • Three thousand people a month are watching our social media posts and have learned about who we are and what we do.


  • Researching and accumulating information to prioritize & to make repairs correctly, according to the guidelines set by the National Register of Historic Places. 


  • Collecting bids and advice from contractors for all the big projects we have yet to complete.

  • Rebuilt the 25 most damaged wooden windows and adding U.V. protection to protect the collections and buildings from sun and water damage (61 windows to go).

  • Rebuilt the front porch top step, repainted steps and added hand railings for safety.

  • Repaired the wooden fences on both sides of the property for security.

    We are commemorating the 140th anniversary of the house, and we have some big plans. You are invited to help make this happen!
     

  • Our #1 priority is raising $20,000 to fund our foundation project.  We desperately need to repair the failing sections of the original brick foundation. This will halt further damage to the plaster, original wall papers, fireplace tiles and window frames situated near the most damaged part in the wall between the parlor/library. Photos of the issue and the plans.
     

  • February 28, 2024 will be the 140th anniversary of when the Cohen Bray House was first occupied by newlyweds Emma and Alfred Cohen. We would like to celebrate with you at our Members-only party -Save the date and R.S.V.P. on the website.
     

  •  “Celebrate Restoration & Preservation” event. We are inviting restoration professionals - Artistic License Guild to help provide lectures, workshops, and demonstrations. We hope to fill these with D.I.Y. community members, trades people interested in learning historic preservation and neighbors who need these resources to care for their old homes properly.  We plan to create an apprenticeship and pair interested people with retired craftspeople and use our facilities to continue restoration education.
     

  • History lovers’ get-together with a day of education and networking. We would like to help strengthen and learn from the old house community in the Bay Area.  By joining the forces of the Bay Area historical societies and Bay Area Historic House Museum groups, we will all gain momentum to continue this work and share resources.
     

  • This year, we updated our software program that provides administrative services that manage our donations and membership. You might have noticed our renewal letters have not gone out since February - we were moving data during that time. Now we are ready for you to renew! If you have renewed already, thank you. If not, we really need your renewal now and if possible, a little more to help with our foundation project.

  • To renew- 

  • 1. click on this link- support us and click on the membership link and input your data and preferences into the new system on our website.

    A heartfelt thank-you in advance for your membership and donation contributions to the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland. You are helping this history survive into the future.

Our future  
Patty Donald - president of the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland

Dear Friends ,                                                                                                            Nov. 2021

As we head into the new year, I look back and realize how grateful we are to have this land and house to watch over.  Originally Huichan land, we honor them. During this time, we are reaching out to our neighbors and appreciating all our family and friends (YOU). We appreciate your support for the work that’s being done to help save this amazing old house for the future. Becoming a member means your yearly or monthly contributions will allow us to be able to count on having funding to make the necessary changes to last into the future. We are working hard with your help.
 
Our future means change.  We are reinventing our roles without a family member living in the house. The board has selected a talented couple to be our caretakers through a live work exchange. He is a professional carpenter. We are excited to watch the new energy and skills they will bring to the house and garden. In addition, we now have full access to the large shop, office and two classrooms located in the back of the property. This will provide us with the means toward a new sustainable future by having DIY classes in these spaces. 


Our long-term goal is to become more sustainable by developing a learning, and training center, for people who want to learn the specific building trades associated with preservation and climate resiliency for existing buildings, which goes hand in hand with architectural preservation. We will use the back buildings to teach workshops and become a training resource for the neighborhood and any “Do it Yourselfers” who are trying to fix up their old homes. (All of us?) And because we are a 510 (c)3, we will qualify for grant money aimed at charitable work that helps low-income people learn trades. This will also help us be totally exempt from property taxes – we are now exempt for 78% of the property. 


Day-to-day, we are cataloging thousands of historic items and attracting students and professionals interested in studying the decorative arts.  We will continue to work with school classes in the house and garden. Our social media outreach & virtual tours continue to bring in more people from across the country that we are educating about our mission.


To achieve our goals, we always need your help physically and monetarily.

1. Become a docent.

2. Learn to lead tours.

3. Teach classes.

4. Help with our teas by providing sweets and savories.

5. Plant, maintain and harvest our garden.

6. Write grant proposals for funding to upgrade the buildings in the back.

 

 If you do not have the time, your monetary contributions are critical to our survival.


The Victorian Preservation board has gone through big changes. I am now President and Nancy Donald is Vice President. Julie Lee is Treasurer.  Mara Melandry is our webpage editor. 

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 We have also created an advisory board with professionals who will help direct us.

Susan Mernit, CEO of the Crucible

Randolph Langenbach, a conservation tech consultant, and earthquake expert  Architect Kirk Peterson and engineer Gene St Ong, are working on the foundation leveling project
Mara Melandry, website editor

We need our boards to grow. If you or anyone you know has fundraising skills, workshop development skills,  or just time to commit to saving this house, we would love to invite them (You) to join us. Please contact us!

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It is very important to show you, our membership, and supporters, that we’re not sitting still during these challenging times. We have been able to educate and do outreach with our PowerPoint Presentations through Zoom that reach around the world to document our progress in the house. You need to be confident that your support and membership dollars are going directly toward helping the house in a much-needed visible way.

 

We have spent our time during the last six months cleaning, prepping, and painting the kitchen and the caretaker’s room and bathroom.This is the first time in 138 years that someone has not needed to use these spaces. We replaced the damaged and cracked asbestos flooring in the kitchen.   The original crumbling linoleum flooring in the butler’s pantry and back hallway was being held by together by duct tape,  layers of patches and thousands of tiny nails. We had the flooring replicated with the pattern of the original linoleum. The vinyl flooring in Emelita’s bathroom which dated from the 1970s was scorched by the sun and we replaced it with a linoleum which would have been more original.  These projects ended up costing us much more than we anticipated. We've saved $3-4,000. by doing most of the labor ourselves.

 

We continue to be very cost-effective with your donations. We have no paid staff. Therefore, 100% of your donations go to improving the building and managing our programs.  Our entire operating budget this year was only $25,000, due to COVID. We relied mainly on memberships, instead of tours and other events. And there are major upcoming projects which are key to the survival of this 138-year-old house, including exterior painting to preserve the siding and trim. Our costliest project is to add structural support to the original deteriorated bricks in the foundation. We have the architect,Kirk Peterson and the engineer Gene St. Ong for this design. This work will involve excavation, new foundation supports in the center of the basement, and a new perimeter foundation.  This will require obtaining permits and a contractor to do this work.  It is not something we can rely on volunteers to do, and will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which we don't have -- yet.  

You can help us succeed in this work, by sending a contribution to support these major efforts.  If you love history and you want to keep this beautiful home for future generations to enjoy and learn from, please consider making a larger tax-deductible gift to the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland and watch what amazing things we will do with it. Then come and see!

 

Please read this website www.cohenbrayhouse.org to see photos of what we have accomplished so far. Look at our capital projects and see where our wish list items can be helped by your donation, and time.  You won’t be disappointed. Become a friend and follow us on Facebook, Like and follow us on Instagram. #cohenbrayhouse. When you are planning for your estate, consider legacy giving for tax advantages.

 

We truly appreciate your dedication and help.

Warmly, 

Patty Donald 
President
Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland
Cohen Bray house

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