Former 1850s brewery, now large home, for sale in California Gold Rush town
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- A 1957 booklet lists the brewery as erected in 1856.
- The 3,138-square-foot residence retains 24-inch-thick original stone walls.
- The county assessor lists the structure as 94% improved with an effective 1994 date.
A former Gold Rush-era brewery — now a 3,138-square-foot home wrapped in 24-inch-thick stone walls — is on the market in the tiny Amador County town of Volcano for $670,000.
About 60 miles east of Sacramento, the property at 21376 Consolation St., is known as the Volcano Bavarian Brewery. It’s described in a historical account as the “last of three breweries in Volcano that helped maintain the spirits of the miners of the central Mother Lode.” The same document notes it is now a private residence.
The home was “extensively remodeled in 1994 and beyond,” according to the property listing. It is pitched as a rare chance to buy a preserved slice of Gold Rush history that has been reimagined for modern living. The actual former brewery serves as a living or family room with the thick walls providing natural insulation and year-round comfort, according to the property description.
Listing agent Tiffany Kraft of Vista Sotheby’s International Realty said the house is more than an unusual conversion.
“In real estate, we often describe properties as ‘one of a kind,’ but this is one of the rare occasions where that statement is literally true,” she wrote in an email.
“The Bavarian Brewery represents an irreplaceable chapter of California’s Gold Rush history, seamlessly blending 19th-century craftsmanship with modern comforts. It’s a property that appeals not only to buyers seeking a distinctive residence, but to those who value stewardship of an important historic landmark and the opportunity to shape its next chapter.”
Sue Hepworth is also a listing agent for the property.
The two-bedroom, two-bath home sits on a 0.29-acre lot, with multiple flexible spaces. The layout includes a dedicated office or den with additional guest accommodation and distinctive design touches, including “subtle Japanese-inspired elements,” according to the listing.
The grounds read like a peaceful retreat: mature landscaping, seasonal blooms and a whimsical garden complemented by stone pathways and curated plantings.
More detailed background on the building’s evolution comes from owner and seller Meg Gottstein, who compiled information from her own property records, family records and Amador County documents.
While the property reads as historic on the outside, it has been upgraded and substantially rebuilt, according to Gottstein.
“The only elements of the original Bavarian Brewery still in place are the 24-inch thick stone walls that form the exterior of the current living/family room,” she wrote.
She also noted the county assessor considers the structure “94% improved” with an effective build date of 1994, reflecting the scale of modernization.
The residence also includes features such as redwood decks, double-pane windows and doors, a whole-house generator, surge protection and a security system, Gottstein wrote. She described multiple heating and cooling options — including dual-zone HVAC — as well as two propane tankless water heaters.
One notable modern addition is a large carport with power for an electric vehicle.
The seller also emphasizes the property’s potential flexibility beyond a typical single-family home. County records indicate the area was rezoned to C-1 in the mid-1970s, meaning a future owner could potentially operate a commercial use or combine commercial and residential purposes, Gottstein wrote, though she advises buyers to confirm the zoning classification with the county.
Volcano was described in a 1957 local history booklet as “nestled in a crater-like valley in the Sierras surrounded by tall, graceful pines,” a place where the town “slumbers peacefully in the sun.” The booklet says the town boomed to more than 5,000 people before the Civil War and later declined, with fires repeatedly reshaping the townscape. Today, the population of Volcano is estimated to be fewer than 200 people.
The booklet lists the 1856 brewery among the town’s surviving landmarks. It also describes Volcano as the “most picturesque of all the Mother Lode Towns.”
The listing leans on that same sense of place, calling the home a legacy property rooted in local history and suggesting it could work as a live-work setup, a business setting or a private retreat.
For the Gottstein family, the house has also been a long-running personal project. A home tour handout recounts how San Francisco resident Ruth Gottstein discovered the property after visiting Volcano in the 1960s and convinced her husband to buy it.
“You want it, we’ll do it,” he told her, according to the document.
Decades later, Meg Gottstein said she is ready to pass it on. She is “looking for a buyer who will appreciate and enjoy this property as much as the Gottstein family has for over six decades.”
