Building Restorations

The Chateau of Versailles reopened its Hall of Mirrors to the public Monday after more than a three-year restoration of the gilded gallery of 357 mirrors. The $16-million renovation of the castle's crown jewel, paid for by French construction company Vinci, was billed as the biggest cultural patronage project undertaken by a private company in France, where such work has traditionally been paid for by the state.

Long Beach pioneer and civic leader Irwin M. Stevens distinguished his home by adding three bathrooms with hot and cold running water to the second story -- a rare feature in 1929 when construction began. Stevens, who owned a laundry business, had the 12-room home plumbed with a recirculating water system that, even in winter, immediately delivered hot water to the second floor. According to Stevens' daughter, Jean Stevens Romer, her hard-working father never left work before 6 p.m.

Yale University, famous for its Gothic buildings, is showing off a newly restored jewel that marked the beginning of its modern era. The university has completed a $44-million restoration of the main building of its art gallery that was designed by architect Louis Kahn, who designed the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The Chapel Street building, which opened in 1953, was Yale's first modernist structure and marked a radical break from the campus' largely neo-Gothic character.

AS a host, Michael Rielly rarely has to cope with Los Angeles' least wanted: the fashionably late. Whether they are invited for cocktails or for a sit-down dinner, Rielly's guests tend to arrive early, clambering up the stairs from Mulholland Drive to Domus Solaris, the home that the late Pasadena architect Donald Hensman built for himself in 1975 on a weed-covered lot with a view of the San Fernando Valley on one side and the Los Angeles Basin and the Pacific on the other.

IN the name of progress, history is often destroyed. One of the biggest mistakes owners of older homes make is altering or removing original features in the name of home improvement. New bathroom fixtures are brought in to replace badly stained originals. Old lighting that hasn't been cleaned since the 1920s is taken down. Wood-frame windows painted shut for decades are ripped from their casings.

Maybe turning 40 was a sign. The look that once was so stylish now feels a little dated. The complexion is getting a little rough. Is a little cosmetic surgery in order? The owners of the 35-story AT&T Center on the southern edge of downtown Los Angeles think so. So workers are beginning to remake the landmark tower, replacing the 1960s-era square metal cladding with a cutting-edge translucent metal skin that when completed will change the look of downtown's skyline.

People in L.A. aren't the only ones getting make-overs. Buildings are too. A church, power substation, firehouse dormitory, water tower, train car, movie theater and neighborhood market are all enjoying second lives as private homes. It's part of a trend known in preservation parlance as adaptive reuse. Born again, these buildings give rise to unique dwellings with a lot of soul. They also make sound conservation sense, preserving resources and helping to put the brakes on regional sprawl.

When motorists whiz past Rancho Camulos on California 126 in Ventura County, they are passing a little-noticed gem in the state's history. But that's about to change, preservationists and historians say of the 1,800-acre Mexican rancho that was home to a prominent California land grant family and was the setting of a beloved 19th century novel.

Peeling off plastic gloves encased in heavy mud, Susan Coats was more focused on her heart than her hands. "I prayed over this,"' she said. "I was passing by last week and when I saw the mission in such bad shape, it broke my heart, both as a Californian and as a Christian. Then when I saw the flier asking for help -- well, here I am."