The Jarvis & Nichols store on the corner of Kasten and Main in Mendocino. The Barry Building is to the right of the store. (Kelley House Collection, Kelley House Photographs)

July 28, 1883 – The Mendocino Beacon reported that John Barry was enlarging his barber shop on Main Street to provide more room for his shaving parlor and bath rooms. When complete, the building would be 25’ wide, 50’ deep, and two stories high.

The following year, Barry and his wife Amelia sold the property to W. T. Wilson, who operated a hotel and “Oyster House.” Wilson sold his hotel to Captain Nelson in 1888. Five years later, next-door neighbors Jarvis & Nichols, who were planning to expand their store, purchased the property from Nelson.

In June 1893, Jarvis & Nichols sold the Barry Building on their newly-acquired property to George Switzer who moved the structure onto his lot on the northwest corner of Howard and Albion streets. In the 1970s, local historian Nannie Escola shared that her mother had let her go down to Main Street to watch the horses pull the building along.

The relocated Barry Building was a private residence until 1977, when Cliff Sanders applied for permits to rehabilitate the structure. In 1979, the Headlands Inn opened to the public with “seven guest rooms, parlor and country kitchen … Dick Foreman and George Webb worked long and hard to transform that tired old home into a good looking and well appointed inn.”

Mendocino City: A Daily Journal 1852-1938 by W. Francis Jackson – Historical Mendocino news organized by day. Each month includes collections of photos and a detailed map of the town. $18