Text Box: Daybreak at Bourn Mansion Production Year: 2006 Suggested Donation: $65 (100% of your investment will be used for ministry). Recipients will be given a specifically numbered print of a limited edition of only 200 Prints that are personally signed and numbered by the artist. In addition, recipients will receive a signed “Certificate of Authenticity” that includes the following information from the artist: The William Bourn Cottage stands majestically on the grounds of Empire Mine, located in Grass Valley, California. The view depicts how the home would have looked, on a crisp fall morning in the late 1890’s. The Empire Mine became the oldest, richest, hard rock gold mine in California. William Bourn, Jr. inherited the mine at age 21 in 1877 from his millionaire father.  With Bourn’s financial backing and the “mining genius” of his younger cousin, George Starr, the Empire became a “showplace in mining technology” at the turn of the century. As word spread that hard rock gold had been found in California, miners from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, Britain, flocked to the area to share their wealth of experience and expertise in hard rock technique. The Cornish contribution, in particular at the Empire, was a unique system of pumps, operated on steam, which emptied the depths of the mine of its constant water seepage. This enabled increased productivity and expansion underground. Geologists and engineers visited from around the world to observe the latest technologies being used at the Empire.  The mine was continually expanded to soon extend 11,000 feet on the incline and a mile below the surface in a maze of 367 miles of tunnels. The Cornish provided the bulk of the labor force from the late 1870's until 1956. During that time, the Empire produced an estimated 5,800,000 oz. of gold. The Bourn family enjoyed a rich and active social life, as evidenced by the Bourn Mansion, which was designed by Willis Polk to resemble an English country lodge. The home was built entirely of waste rock from the mine, and to this day it stands majestically unmovable, a beautiful example of late 1890's architecture.  As one walks up the path to the home, he is surrounded by 13 acres of rose gardens, manicured lawns, and reflecting pools enhance by blue-dyed water. As beautiful as the home is, William Bourn only used the home two to four weeks out of the year.  He simply found the deafening noise from the nearby stamp mill (where the quartz rock was crushed to liberate the gold trapped in the ore) too much to handle.  He instead lived most of the year in San Francisco. I was inspired to paint this historic home, after meditating on Jesus’ promise found in John, Chapter 14, verses 1-6. Jesus assures those who trust and rely entirely upon Him that He is preparing a mansion (dwelling place) for them in Heaven. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know… I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It is my prayer that all who look upon this print will come to know and trust our Lord Jesus more fully as they experience His joy, even while bearing the obstacles and battles along their journey here on this earth. With grateful Love in Jesus Christ, who offers to all the instantaneous free gift of Eternal Life, as well as the peaceful assurance of a heavenly home with Him at the end of this world’s journey, Nick Vogt Text Box: PRESS HERE TO ORDER THIS PRINT Text Box: RETURN TO CTM HOME PAGE Text Box: RETURN TO THUMBNAIL PAGE Text Box: The Artistic Works of N. R. Vogt “Paintings of Historical Significance”

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