Restoring historic buildings isn't a job for the faint-hearted or shortsighted.

Just ask the Friends of the Bayley House. The weary but grateful group of volunteers recently announced that the Civil War-era mansion in the heart of El Dorado County's Gold Country is officially off the critical list.

After decades of steady decline, collapsed portions of brick walls have been restored, the roof has been repaired, and windows and door openings have been secured against weather and vandals.

"We achieved our main goal, which was to weatherize and stabilize," John Crane, chairman of Friends of the Bayley House, said of work done over the past year.

"Essentially, we bought time, which feels like a great enough accomplishment at this point."

Full restoration is expected to take many years and millions of dollars, not to mention more volunteers to tackle everything from cleaning and construction to fundraising.

The Bayley House, off Highway 49 in Pilot Hill, was built in 1862 by attorney and later state Assemblyman Alcander John Bayley. A contemporary of railroad barons Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Collis Huntington, Bayley believed that the Central Pacific Railroad would come through Pilot Hill and designed the Bayley House as a hotel. When the railroad was routed through Auburn instead, the mansion became his home.

The three-story, 10,000- square-foot, structure remained a private residence until the 1950s. With 22 rooms, six fireplaces, a grand ballroom, and columns and a balcony across the front, the mansion was one of the area's most striking landmarks.

The Bayley House earned a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Area developers donated the building to El Dorado County, which sold it to the Georgetown Divide Recreation District for $1 in 1989. The goal is to restore it for public use, possibly as a museum or cultural center. With its proximity to Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, some suggest a portion of the mansion also might house a commercial use, such as a bed-and-breakfast inn.

The idea of preserving historic buildings has popular appeal, but sustaining public interest in projects that can span decades is a challenge.

Those who stick with it say it takes vision and the determination to say no to naysayers.

"We get people who say, 'Tear it down and start over,' " said Aloha Adams. "We just have a desire to see it as it once was."

Adams, who grew up in nearby Cool, attended a wedding in the mansion in the late 1940s. Memories of its beauty led her to join the restoration effort when she moved back to the foothills nine years ago.

With fellow volunteer Jaime Tafoya, she oversees Friends of the Bayley House fundraising efforts, including the annual Red Hot Summer Dance Party held in a barn on the historic site. Such events won't raise the millions of dollars needed, but they keep the project in the public eye, Adams said.

Larry Syversen, who retired to Pilot Hill after a career with Hewlett-Packard in Santa Rosa, said his son, Kris, got him involved in Friends of the Bayley House. A living-history buff, Larry Syversen was part of a crew that cleaned bricks from the crumbled walls for the restoration work. "Unfortunately, it's slow, and it all hinges on finances," he said.

The recent work was done with a $140,000 California Heritage Fund grant, along with matching funds from El Dorado County, donations and monies raised through special events.

Crane, who has served on the Georgetown Divide Recreation District board for nearly 12 years, has coordinated restoration work with the California Office of Historic Preservation and contractors, in addition to performing much of the mansion's upkeep.

He hopes completion of the first phase will position the project for additional grants and inspire more people to volunteer. Particularly needed are contractors willing to donate time as project managers, Crane said, "and architects who could help us figure out what kind of uses (of the building) we could actually afford."

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 608-7451.