The Dyar House
Today we resurrect the past, To serve and protect in the future
The Dyar House at Cuyamaca Rancho SP. Built, Gone, but Rising Anew! We of the CRSPIA BOD understand any such rebuild or restoration will require constant and ongoing communication with CSP, starting with discussion with the Sector Superintendent. Before the overall process of rebuilding can even be initiated, there is much groundwork AKA pre-work that must be initiated and continued as the rebuild progresses. As a board we are aware will need to work more with local politicians and agencies, work more with other local interest groups, work more through the committee process, and with various contractors and subcontractors involved in the effort. Dyar House
The Dyar House was built in 1923 as a vacation home by Ralph and Helen Dyar, who owned the Rancho at the time. The Dyars used Los Angeles Architect Arthur E. Harvey to design the house, and had it built for $35,000. The house featured native stone from the ruins of an 1850s ranch cabin nearby, beams from the 1880s-built Stonewall Mine complex, and a rustic style that fit the Natural World around it. In addition to the house, the Dyar Estate included a pool, a stable, a generator house to provide power and pump water, and garage where their Cadillacs and chauffeur resided. The general lifestyle at the House might be described as relaxed graciousness, where a variety of outdoor pursuits were available to do/not do, as the guests desired. Those pursuits included horse riding, fishing, swimming, and hiking When the Dyars sold Cuyamaca Rancho to the State in 1933, they accepted a very slight sum, donating about half the value of the Rancho to the State. The house then became the headquarters of the new Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. In various combinations it served for decades as HQ, and a residence, and a museum. The garage and power plant buildings were used for storage and operations by the park’s large and active volunteer groups from 1977 on. Despite valiant efforts by CDF and other employees to save it, the whole complex burned in the Cedar Fire in 2003. Those volunteer groups donate around 10,000 volunteer work hours a year to the park and its visitors. In addition to their volunteer duties, they have always been the source of the Board of Directors of CRSPIA, a 501c3 founded in 1977 to support the park. As today’s Board, we are starting with Superintendent Kevin Best and the California State Parks system to begin the rebuild of the Dyar House. dyer house Architect Arthur E. Harvey to design the house, and had it built for $35,000. The house featured native stone from the ruins of an 1850s ranch cabin nearby, beams from the 1880sbuilt Stonewall Mine complex, and a rustic style that fit the Natural World around it. In addition to the house, the Dyar Estate included a pool, a stable, a generator house to provide power and pump water, and garage where their Cadillacs and chauffeur resided. The general lifestyle at the House might be described as relaxed graciousness, where a variety of outdoor pursuits were available to do/not do, as the guests desired. Those pursuits included horse riding, fishing, swimming, and hiking. When the Dyars sold Cuyamaca Rancho to the State in 1933, they accepted a very slight sum, donating about half the value of the Rancho to the State. The house then became the headquarters of the new Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. In various combinations it served for decades as HQ, and a residence, and a museum. The garage and power plant buildings were used for storage and operations by the park’s large and active volunteer groups from 1977 on. Despite valiant efforts by CDF and other employees to save it, the whole complex burned in the Cedar Fire in 2003.