The elegant Rives Mansion

The Rives Mansion was open to the public today as a fundraiser to benefit victims of the typhoon that struck the Philippines. For $5 or $10, you could get a cup of lemonade. And for $20, you could get a private tour of the mansion, where James C. Rives looks out at you across the elegant rooms.

The fundraiser was organized by Ralph Verdugo, owner of the Rives Mansion Steakhouse, which will open here early next year. Meanwhile, preparations for the steakhouse continue. The rooms are painted and the floors gleam. The kitchen is still in progress, and there's no landscaping outside yet.

But that doesn't take away from the sheer elegance of the mansion with all its windows aglow.