There were two major alterations, the first in 1920, 50 years after the house was built, when it became three apartments. It stayed that way for some time, then stood empty for three years until 1973 when Conrad and Nancy Olsen bought the house. They did the dirty work of gutting out the apartments and jacking up the whole structure to lay a stabling foundation that leveled floors as new, straightened walls and window and door frames to the “T,” and kept the authenticity. They returned it to The James W. Finch House and, more importantly, may have saved its life. New zoning codes allowed demolition, and plans were afoot for 23 apartments.

The next time the house was for sale was 1996, when Jeff and Joyce Haferman drove past it. The sight of the noble Victorian changed their concept of what they could buy. Long-lasting love at first sight, they’ve honored the home with restorative devotion to details. They refinished red oak floors throughout, revealing the natural color and deep borders of the era. They arduously stripped and repainted shutters around many big, authentic wavy-glass windows, plus doors.

“The finial work [ornamental wood atop spires or railings on Victorian] was original, 130 years of paint each. I wanted to restore them,” says Jeff Haferman. So he did.

“I saw the poor condition of wood underneath. I had to sand and strengthen the old wood,” he says.

His wife describes painting the medallions around the chandeliers, the one in the dining room original, crystal, elegant and huge, all on 11-foot-high ceilings. The couple replaced wallpaper in the formal foyer, up the stairs and ceilings with Bradbury & Bradbury hand-painted genre patterns.

“I found the most amazing thing,” Joyce Haferman says. “The original hall wallpaper was nearly identical in color and design to what we’d chosen.”

There are two bedrooms and 1-1/2 baths on the expansive first floor. The master suit with full bath on the top floor has double doors to a big private balcony with views of the bay and beaches over the descending rooftops and trees. The finial-adorned railing surrounds it. The stairway between floors is no less than antique art. It has a glowing, rich patina and step edges rounded from more than a century of footsteps. It expresses the soul of the house and is the first thing one sees upon entry, a proper introduction to what this house is.

The kitchen is wonderful with a simply charming, large, vintage Chambers gas stove, fully equipped. It opens to a veranda, small garden and to a three-car tandem garage built five years ago with one-bedroom quarters above. All of it is in keeping with the mood of the property. Beams in the pitched ceiling are reclaimed Douglas fir. The Hafermans replaced the heating vents with cast iron and put an inset, iron fireplace with delicate figures of a woman on each side into the original space, saving the chimney wall from a complete remodel had the first fireplace been kept.

What this elegant Victorian displays is a piece of time when streets weren’t yet paved and women wore long skirts and button shoes. It likely had its great warmth of spirit from the start.

PRICE: $1,795,000. 410 Monroe St., Monterey. Todd Porteous, International Estates Inc., 277-2380.