The story of The Francis House, a pedigreed, seven-room bed and breakfast in Calistoga, is about as engrossing as one might imagine a 138-year-old estate might be. In 1886, the affluent merchant James Francis commissioned architect John Sexton to build his family residence in Calistoga, resulting in a stately, 26-foot tall Second Empire building, with walls of stone mined from local quarries and topped by a characteristic mansard roof with dormer windows. While its aesthetic appeals in the present as old-world, 138 years ago it was rather a la mode, reflecting the architectural style of the redevelopment of Paris by Napoleon III. Five years later, following the death of Francis, Colonel Myron E. Billings, a respected local figure and appointee of President Ulysses S. Grant to the U.S. Criminal Courts of Calistoga, acquired the property. He described the estate in a letter as encircled by lilac, English walnut, and quince..
