FOLSOM, Calif. — A historic Folsom mansion will soon sport a new commemorative monument and plaque.
Folsom City Council passed a resolution March 26 approving the memorial to celebrate former Mayor Glenn Fait’s birthday after he turned 80 on Sept. 18, 2023.
Fait has lived in the momentous home, known as the Cohn House, at 305 Scott St. since 1966, but the mansion’s history goes back further than that.
The first house built on the property was by Simon Cohn in 1858. Cohn moved to Folsom from Poland during the gold rush and opened a general store on Sutter Street, according to city documents. He later built a larger home on the property in 1879. That was replaced with an even newer, third home in 1894. The original 1858 cook house and barn still stand.
The third home featured:
- Five floors.
- A covered porch.
- A cupola with a view of the countryside.
- A story-tall basement made from 18-inch thick granite blocks quarried at Folsom Prison.
The new plaque will be mounted on a granite slab as a nod to the granite blocks in the basement, city documents said.
Cohn died in 1895 and his family lost most of their fortune during the Great Depression. Thirty years later, the home built in 1894 fell into disrepair.
On Jan. 1, 1966, Fait and his wife, Sharon, moved into the dilapidated home after purchasing it for $21,000. The 3,894-square-foot home featuring five bedrooms and two bathrooms now has an estimated market value of over $1 million as of 2024, according to Zillow.
Fait, who served on city council from 1994-98 and as mayor from 1996-97, restored the home with fresh paint, fire blocking, insulation, new wiring and fire sprinklers.
A large part of the effort to commemorate the mansion’s, Cohn’s and Fait’s history is driven by Aquino, who says she considers Fait a good friend.
“I definitely like to bounce ideas off him and get his perspective,” Aquino told ABC10. “We talk a lot of local politics.”
Aquino says it was a group of Fait’s friends that came up with the idea for the plaque after wondering what to get him for his 80th birthday and wanting to get him something that would honor his contributions to Folsom. Fait was game for the idea, she said.
“I’m very flattered,” Fait said. “It was funded by a number of my friends, so I appreciate it.”
The Cohn House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 21, 1982. It is one of only six locations in Folsom to appear on the register.