NorthBay biz

Calistoga’s ugly duckling is no more. An elegantswan now takes her bows.In a magnificent transformation, The FrancisHouse—once a major eyesore and a perpetual headache for its neighbors and the Calistoga City Council—isnow a stately luxury inn, earning a place on ArchitecturalDigest’s prestigious list of best-designed hotels andcommanding nightly room rates between $500 and $700.

The metamorphosis of The Francis House—better-knownlocally as the old Calistoga Hospital—is due to the blood,sweat and tears of Dina and Rich Dwyer, who bought theproperty in 2015, just weeks before the city planned to release a wrecking ball to demolish decades of neglect. TheDwyers, from San Francisco, then spent three-and-a-half yearsaccomplishing what no one thought was possible, returningthe grand dame to glory.

Early beginnings
Before launching into the renovation, it’s worth some time toset the stage for how important this project was for the peopleof Calistoga. In Rich’s words, the house “was the roughest,most difficult thing for this town.”