The back side of the Bourn Cottage

I’ve seen many a home made from brick and I’ve seen plenty made of stone. But to see one so beautifully made of both, surrounded by verdant gardens, fountains, reflecting pools, and some of the most majestic tall trees in the Sierra Foothills is to see a historic wonder unmatched in Northern California.

Miners never lived in this much style. The owners of the mine didn’t even live in this. This is just a cottage for the Bourn’s to entertain visitors from out-of-town. When you look at a place like this where the very bricks had to be transported scores of miles and then you look at the grimy miner’s faces, you’d naturally think jealousy and resentment. Not at Empire Mines. The mutual respect allowed both to coexist for a common goal: to safely remove gold from the richest earth in America.