Tours of Pomona's Phillips Mansion part of Sunday fundraiser

Victorian-era games, food and tours of the Phillips Mansion will all be part of Sunday afternoon's fundraiser at the mansion organized by the Historical Society of the Pomona Valley.

The Victorian Ice Cream Social and Grand Re-opening of the Phillips Mansion will be from 2 to 5 p.m. on the grounds of the mansion, 2640 Pomona Blvd., between Humane Way and Temple Avenue.

Admission to the family event is free. Cost of most activities will be $1.

The event will be the first time the first floor of the mansion will be open for tours since the early 1990s, said Mickey Gallivan, president of the historical society.

Since that time a great deal of restoration work and earthquake retrofitting has been completed as well as asbestos and lead-paint removal, Gallivan said.

Although more work is needed, the building now offers visitors a chance to see what the structure would have looked like at the time it was built and how its residents lived.

The house is furnished with items that belonged to the Phillips family along with items that match that period, Gallivan said.

The Phillips Mansion was built in 1875, she said, and "it was the first brick home ever built in the area."

The structure is the only one showing the Second Dynasty Napoleon style in Southern California, Gallivan said. In addition, the architectural style is also what is typically thought of when Victorian haunted mansions come to mind, she said.

Lewis Phillips and his family where prominent and affluent members of the area known as Spadra, an area at the end of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles, Gallivan said.

Phillips was a supporter of having the railroad travel through the region, and to ensure that happened he donated part of his property for the railroad right-of-way, she said.

Phillips lived in the mansion until his death in 1900, and his wife continued to live in the home for several years later, Gallivan said.