Encore for Lynden estate
If the house is a-rockin’, you know you’ve found the Bachman Estate
by Hilary Parker


Among the fields and farmhouses northwest of Lynden sits a stately mansion with a who’s who of rock n’ roll royalty on its guest list. Built as the family home of Randy Bachman, co-founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), recording celebrities including Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, members of the Beatles and rocker Sammy Hagar have stayed at the estate and used the recording studio Bachman built on the property.
Since then the estate has gone through many transformations – including a drug rehab center and a bed and breakfast – and now is the northern home base for Jim and Andy Clay, owners of Lynden’s Pioneer Ford dealership.

Rebuilding an heirloom
Built in 1976, the mansion’s original incarnation as the Bachman home is still apparent in many of its features, from the lime green tile in the laundry room to the pink marble fireplace in the sitting room to the period wallpaper patterns throughout the house. The home has 15 bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
Much of the home’s original charms were destroyed during its tenure as a rehab center. The original six-panel wooden doors were replaced with metal fire doors, institutional tile was installed in the kitchen and a sprinkler system was installed throughout.
Perhaps the most distressing to its original owner, says Andy Clay who spoke to Bachman, is the loss of the Victorian-style leaded glass windows in the entryway doors that depicted the four seasons. Fortunately, the lovely wild-rose-patterned glass in the sitting room remains.
It’s Andy’s goal to restore the house to its original state – and then some.
“Eventually it will have an interesting interior to go with the interesting history,” she said.
“My vision is to make it an heirloom house,” she continued.
Andy wants to put local craftsmanship into the house to make it a showcase – “what people would expect to see” in such a grand home.
She’s had help from the community. Families who originally worked on the house have been able to help point out some of the home’s original craftsmanship. And Strengholt Construction, the home’s builder, still had the original plans on file. Faber Brothers Construction will be working on future remodeling projects.
But the 20,000-square-foot home is just one of Andy’s projects. Andy is principal dealer at Pioneer – a second career after a lifetime of nursing; is active in the Whatcom County Humane Society; and she and Jim have built the Clay International School in Kenya to provide the children in the village of NGomano with secondary education. And Jim keeps busy as CEO of Regency Pacific, Inc., a company providing retirement communities, assisted living and skilled nursing in five states.
In the year and a half the Clays have owned the home (one of several they split their time between, including homes in Bellevue and Whidbey Island), they’ve begun taking up carpet, repainted in places and given the English manor exterior a six-figure facelift, including roof, paint and landscaping.
Among the first changes made to the home was remodeling the upper floor in a suite for their son Peter, who runs the Ford dealership. (“That’s something that he’s wanted since grade school,” said Jim.)
The suite’s bedroom is hidden from the sitting room by pocket doors that look like wood-paneled walls. The entire room is painted a deep burgundy and has a nautical theme.

Favorite spaces
Even with a long list of planned improvements, the home is already beautiful. Oak floors and cedar walls grace much of the home. The “Overdrive Room” boasts a 20-foot long rock wall and fireplace. The rock and wood throughout the home are signatures of Bachman’s distinct style, Andy said.
Named for the large wooden overdrive gear suspended from the ceiling, the Overdrive Room is one of the least altered in the home. It’s said that Bachman found the overdrive in a field on the property. (While one might guess that is where BTO’s name originates from, the band debuted with the name in 1972, prior to the home’s construction.) To get the 13-foot diameter overdrive into the house, a hole was cut in the roof and it was lowered from above.
The room, which once housed Bachman’s guitar collection, now displays the Clay’s collection of baskets made by the children who attend their school in Kenya. The baskets were a gift presented to them on a trip to visit the school last year.
Both Andy and Jim find the Overdrive Room one of the most appealing in the house. “It’s a warm place to sit,” said Andy, noting the window seat running along one wall.
The Clays both also gravitate toward the outbuilding that once served as Bachman’s recording studio. They’ve worked to restore the building to what they imagine is similar to it’s original décor, with stone floors and cedar-planked walls. Craftsman John Ferguson supplied the woodwork in the studio building. They use the space as home offices, and the recording studio upstairs, which still has acoustic boards on the vaulted ceiling, serves as a conference room.
“It makes such a relaxed atmosphere for business,” says Jim.
And the former studio engineering room now makes a great soundproof space for the grandkids to play their Xbox 360.
Jim also appreciates the indoor pool original to the home. As a runner who takes to the trails on the 35-acre property nearly every day, the pool is a great way to cross-train. Andy has her own workout room in the basement, a complete home gym with weights and cardio equipment, where she, too, works out Monday through Friday.
When it’s time to relax, the Clays can retreat to their media room in the basement to watch a movie on the $30,000 theater system, complete with a JVC projection television and Sony surround sound system.
“It’s as good as the theater. Star Wars is amazing to watch,” says Don Mergens, who works closely with the Clays and gave a tour of the home.
Next on the list for renovation at the home is to de-institutionalize the kitchen. Blue-and-white linoleum are at odds with the beautiful copper range hood and Jenn-Air six-burner gas stove with griddle. The cabinets, too, aren’t original and will be replaced as a Tuscan-style remodel transforms the space.

‘Look for little treasures’
As they make improvements throughout the house all eyes will be looking for the rock n’ roll memorabilia said to be peppered throughout the home during the building process and afterward.
“Randy told us to look for little treasures,” said Mergens.
Already unearthed under the carpet was a record jacket from the band. And it is rumored that the Beach Boys signed one of the walls the summer they rented the home.
Those treasures remain to be uncovered as work continues on the home, which leaves the door open to a sequel Executive Lifestyle feature to see what treasures are found and what treasures the Clays create.