An Elegant Bed & Breakfast in the Heart of the Gold Country. Victorian Elegance in the Sierra Foothills. Built from a gold-mining fortune in 1898, and lovingly restored to its original Victorian grandeur by its owners, the landmark Power's Mansion offers visitors the hospitality of a country inn and the attentive service of a small, elegant European hotel. Yesterday When gold was discovered in the Sierra Foothills in 1848, the California Gold Rush was on! North Fork Diggins, later renamed Auburn, became the first major crossroads of the state, where the Mother Lode Highway met the first transcontinental railroad. ...