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Annual tour: 7-stop event will benefit Bigelow House
Staff writer |
Community members will get their once-in-a-year chance this Sunday to peek in historic homes that housed Olympians from as early as the 1850s.
IF YOU GO
What: 2010 Holiday Tour of Historic Homes. Ticketholders take a self-guided tour of five historic private residences, the Bigelow House museum and the State Capital Museum.
When: Sunday, 11 a.m.-noon at Bigelow House; noon-4 p.m. Bigelow and other tour stops.
Advance tickets: Available at Drees, Archibald Sisters, Popinjay, State Capital Museum, Thompson’s Furniture and Gift.
Day-of-event tickets: Bigelow House and the State Capital Museum.
Cost: $15 per person, includes dessert and coffee at the State Capital Museum.
Proceeds: Support the nonprofit Bigelow House.
More info.: www.bigelowhouse.org; 360-753-1215; or bigelowhousemuseum@gmail.com
STOPS ON THE TOUR
Here are the buildings on this Sunday’s Holiday Tour of Historic Homes in Olympia. Descriptions are from the Bigelow House:
• Bigelow House, 918 Glass Ave. N.E. Built in the Carpenter Gothic style in the 1850s. Home to pioneer lawyer and territorial legislator Daniel Bigelow and his wife, Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow, the first schoolteacher in Thurston County.
• Lord Mansion (State Capital Museum), 211 21st Ave. S.W. A Spanish Mediterranean style home built in 1923. It was home to C. J. Lord, a prominent Olympia banker who formed the Capital National Bank and Seattle-First National Bank.
• Howell House, 413 Quince St. N.E. A box-construction style that was typical of the working class when built around 1890. The original homeowner and builder, Bennett M. Howell, owned a livery and drove a stagecoach from Steilacoom to Olympia, transporting passengers and mail. He was married to Catherine McAtee.
• House at 2527 Columbia S.W. Built in 1924. Similar to many pre-cut “kit” houses of its time period, it may be a “Ready Cut Home” manufactured by Tumwater Lumber Mills. Mildred Stanford, one of the home’s early owners, taught at Olympia’s short-lived private college called Peoples University.
• Claypool House, 1617 Sylvester S.W. Built in 1910 for Olympia City Attorney Charles Claypool and his wife, Annie Claypool. Charles was appointed as a judge in 1913. Basic side-gabled farmhouse.
• House at 118 19th Ave. S.W. Built in 1908. A simple, gambrel-roofed dwelling originally owned by Stephen and Lydia Osborn. Stephen drove an express wagon, delivering cargo to and from Olympia train depots.
• Parr House, 1518 Columbia St. S.W. Originally built in 1893 on a bluff above Capitol Lake. It was moved to its current site in 1912 to make way for the Washington State Temple of Justice building. The first owners after the relocation were Olympia lawyer Harry Parr and his wife Evelyn George Parr.
Debby Abe, Staff writer
The 2010 Holiday Tour of Historic Homes will feature seven stops, ranging from a house built from a pre-cut kit to a home originally built on a bluff before moving to its present location in the South Capitol Neighborhood.
Tour proceeds will benefit the Bigelow House, Olympia’s oldest surviving residence.
“It’s an opportunity to see private spaces that are generally hidden from the public,” said Edward Echtle, a Bigelow House board member, “and learn something about the history of the town from a personal perspective, rather than a classroom setting.”
One of the tour houses just finished undergoing a massive restoration. The Howell House, built around 1890 by stagecoach driver and livery owner Bennett M. Howell, sits on the Olympia Heritage Register, a listing of historic properties.
Mike and Monica Lyons of Tumwater bought the decrepit house five years ago for $120,000, thinking they finally had a chance to restore a historic building while making money at it.
The home had devolved into a drug house, scattered with spent syringes and soil from a marijuana grow operation, Monica recalled. The structure was tilted, its foundation was crumbling. Monica was afraid to walk on the rotting main floor because it might collapse into the basement.
The couple wound up pumping more than $600,000 above the purchase price to replace the foundation, rebuild the interior, add a garage and daylight basement. The house now includes high-end amenities such as a tankless water heater, heat pump, six-burner gas stove and granite-topped kitchen island.
But they also worked with the city’s Historic Register Commission to retain the home’s historic integrity. They installed windows, walnut plank flooring and trim similar to the home’s original fittings.
The home still bears its original, old growth, structural beams and most of its cedar siding, said Mike Lyons, a retired certified public accountant.
“We both love historical homes and always wanted to do this. At the time, it seemed like a good idea,” Mike said. “I’ll never get my money out of it.”
The couple listed the home two weeks ago for $599,950. Even if they get the asking price, they estimate they will lose more than $120,000 on their costly labor of love.
“Once we got started, we just couldn’t let it go. You had to do it justice,” said Monica, a health educator. “Someone who eventually buys the house will get a sweet deal. We’ll be happy if they’re happy.”
Echtle, with the Bigelow House, said the Lyons’ contractors also worked on the Bigelow House, and do a good job at historic restoration.
The Howell House, Echtle said, “is not exactly the way it was. They put a larger porch on it, put in new windows, but it is true to the form. It’s a very basic farmhouse style, very typical of the working class houses of that time. They kept true to that. It’s a really good example of a modern upgrading of a historic house.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694 debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
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