1951 S Hosmer St, Tacoma
Listed $425,000/Sold $475,000
2 Beds
1 Bath
1,760 Sq Ft - 928 Finished - 832 Unfinished
5,750 Sq Ft Lot
Imagination begins to reawaken at this time of year. The first crocuses come up and we wonder what else might be unearthed. A new path, a new way of thinking, a new place to call home. If your dreams of home show you a garden where peonies open, where leaves unfurl above, where hummingbirds visit, if they show you a wooden house nearly one hundred years old, whose age is revealed in the best ways—in hardwoods and millwork—and whose youth is maintained and renewed by careful updates, then we invite you to read along, to step inside, to discover if this home is where life is leading.
A white heirloom rose waits to bloom at this 2 bedroom bungalow nest in Hilltop with hardwoods and high ceilings. Lilacs and iris call back old times while updates ensure comfort and signal continuous care. Oak and fir floors, crown molding, cased openings, built-ins and original fixtures meet all new appliances, fresh interior paint, custom oak blinds, a 2018 roof and a 2021 tankless gas water heater. The bath is thoughtfully renovated with marble tile flooring and a walk-in shower. Enjoy summer mornings in the sun porch and afternoon light in the west-facing living room. Set a table by the window in the dining room and another on the patio between the pear and plum. Expand into the open basement space. Lay your quilts and fresh cotton sheets on the beds, light a lamp, rest and reimagine; what does life look like here?
This is a Hilltop home, just a few blocks from the Buffalo Soldiers Museum and community gathering places like People’s Community Center with its pool, cultural celebrations, classes and events, or the Peace Community Center where Hilltop youth engage in mentoring, tutoring, enrichment, and discovery. If you know the neighborhood, you already know Hilltop is central. Yes, it’s a central location, near downtown, with easy access to I-5, the highway and Stadium—with the light rail expansion making it even more connected—but more importantly, it’s central to the Tacoma story. It’s a historic and vital neighborhood and we hope you’ll read more about it in our location section. If you’re looking to live here, be ready to belong to and invest in this community. If you’re a walker, jogger, cyclist, skater, or like getting around on any other kind of wheels, you’ll enjoy taking a closer look at our list of non-profits, restaurants, parks, hospitals, schools, and coffee shops—many just about a mile away.
Continue on for the video tour, photos, details, and a list of 20 Tacoma favorites nearby.
Main Floor
Living Room
Dining Room
Kitchen
2 Bedrooms
Full Bath
Enclosed Sun Porch
Grounds
Landscaped Front & Back Yards
Fenced Back Yard
Patio & Paved Paths
Lawn & Garden Space
Front Porch & Back Porch
5,750 Sq Ft Lot
Unfinished Basement
Laundry Area
Workshop Space
Storage Space
Tankless Gas Water Heater
Gas Furnace
Living Room
This home’s address is stamped into the sidewalk, so you really know it belongs. Follow the paved path up to the front porch and open the door to the living room. Oak hardwoods and fresh paint welcome you in. Notice the distinctive crown molding and vintage fixtures. The afternoon and evening light is a gift through the west-facing front window, but custom oak blinds allow for privacy too.
A cased opening on the left leads to the hall where you’ll find the bedrooms and bath. But for now, step through the wider cased opening into the dining room. As you move through the home you’ll find it has a circular flow that makes it easy to get around.
Dining Room
The dedicated dining room features oak floors, picture rail trim, a vintage light fixture, and an arched opening to the kitchen. A large fixed window with sash windows on each side illuminates the dining room with light from the south. Draw the curtains, light candles, and lay the table with linens for late-night dinners, or simply set out the cereal bowls and coffee pot to get the day started.
Kitchen
Notice the change from oak to fir as you step through to the kitchen. Fir is a softer wood than oak, but a favorite for its warm glowing tone. Natural light flows into the kitchen from the sun porch brightening the counters, the cooking space, and lighting up those fir floors.
Light and wood and color is all very well, but there’s plenty of a more practical nature to note here too. The kitchen is set with all new appliances including the fridge, oven/range, and dishwasher. An under-mount sink set into the stone countertop allows for easy clean-up. Don’t miss the oh-so-1920s built-in ironing board by the stairwell. We rarely find these still intact. Appreciate its period charm, or maybe convert it into a spice cabinet.
Floor-to-ceiling cabinets around the stove make excellent use of space and provide room for storing pantry items as well as dishes and cooking tools.
The subway tile backsplash and simple, understated style of all the updates complement the vintage cabinets and wood floors. The balance of modern amenities and classic style is something this house does well—here in the kitchen, and throughout.
Enclosed Sun Porch
Now for the creativity and imagination, we talked about in the beginning. Put on a sweater, pick up a book, and bring along a cup of tea. Now, sit here in the sun porch where eastern light brightens the morning hours. Is this your second sitting area, a plant haven, the place to line up trays of seedlings—cherry tomatoes of every color to be transplanted in coming months—a spot to kick off boots, wipe paws, and shake off the rain? It's up to you, but a little extra space, a transition from indoor to outdoor, is always a good thing.
Full Bath
Before heading out the door from the sun porch, come back in through the kitchen to finish getting to know the interior. As noted before, the hall is accessible from the living room, but you can also reach it from the kitchen (part of that circular layout we mentioned). Find the bath at the end of the hall on the east wall of the home overlooking the back yard. Fully renovated in 2021, the bathroom features marble hexagon tile flooring and a walk-in shower. The marble tile continues into the shower floor with subway tile extending from floor to ceiling. A sash window allows for ventilation with both recessed lighting and a fixture over the vanity. It’s calm, cool, and complete.
2 Bedrooms
Just outside the full bath, find the back bedroom in the NE corner of the home with a view to the back yard. Both bedrooms are finished with fir floors, crown molding, and classic baseboard and window trim. The front bedroom, in the NW corner of the home, is distinguished by a large window (matching the living room window) overlooking the front garden.
A built-in linen closet with a cupboard and drawers for storage is set into the hallway between the 2 bedrooms. This is an excellent place for extra sheets, towels, and other supplies.
Unfinished Basement
Take the stairs down from the kitchen to the 832 square foot open unfinished basement. A new washer and dryer wait at the foot of the stairs with a utility sink for convenience. With this basement open and completely cleared out, you can see the potential for workshop space, for expansion, and for storage. A door leads out to the back yard, making it a great place for keeping gardening tools, bikes, and other outdoor gear.
Grounds
You might notice the neighbors’ garages in back with access from the alley—certainly something to consider. But for now, we’ll focus on what’s already here, and what’s about to bloom when the season is right.
This two bedroom home is set on a 5,750 sq ft lot on a street with sidewalks in front and an alley in back. An exploration of the front yard gives hints of flowers to come. Soon peonies, irises, roses, and rhododendrons will blossom. In the meantime, a Japanese maple, dogwoods, and evergreens provide color and texture. That’s the beautiful thing about landscaping like this, it’s designed to provide interest and life all year round.
So, head out the front door, or take the back door from the sun porch. Step out to the back porch rebuilt in 2018 with Trex decking and cedar railings. A rounded paving stone patio below is bordered by a pear and plum and offers a shaded bbq spot and outdoor dining area. Open lawn provides space to play and vegetation creates a privacy screen, especially when the leaves are out in spring and summer.
Alongside the lawn and patio you'll find ornamental grasses, lilies, a butterfly bush, smoke bush, irises, bamboo, and enough sun to grow some veggies. Hummingbirds and butterflies like to visit, so expect some company,
Location
Intro to the Hilltop
The Hilltop Neighborhood, where you find this home, is set above Tacoma's downtown. Churches dot the corners of many Hilltop blocks, St. Joseph's Hospital, MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital, and Community Healthcare's Hilltop Family Medical Clinic provide jobs and services, there's even a Link light rail project in the works, to be completed in 2022. The Link will further connect Hilltop to Downtown Tacoma and the Stadium District, providing increased access for those who don’t own a car, or prefer (for all kinds of reasons!) to use public transit. Meet a friend for breakfast at Red Elm, spend half an hour at McCarver park for fresh air and mountain views. You’ll even find a college and university within 1.5 miles of 1933 S. Hosmer. Take a swim and get to know your neighbors at the People's Community Center, and enjoy the annual Hilltop Street Fair every August.
The land on which this community is built was purchased around 1869 by the Workingmen’s Joint Stock Association (WJSA) of Portland, Oregon—a group of 11 African American men, two African American women, and one white man. Represented by their president, George Putnam Riley, the group bought 67 acres that became the center of African American culture in Tacoma; we now call that place The Hilltop (source: blackpast.org).
Image from the Hilltop Action Coalition who promotes community and local businesses through events like Hilltop Summer Splash, Hilltop Holiday Crawls, and Halloween on the Hill.
Historically a neighborhood that’s been home to Black families and a center for Black-owned businesses, Hilltop has been populated by a diverse mix of cultures throughout its history from Scandinavian immigrants, to German Russian immigrants, and people of all kinds of American heritage. However, this is now a neighborhood feeling the pressures of gentrification. Read more about that challenge and efforts toward creating attainable, affordable housing in this article by Forterra.
Image from Tacoma Community House - Education and advocacy work in the Hilltop for over 100 years and a great place to find meaningful volunteer work and community connection just 1 mile from home!
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY & ENGAGEMENT
Enroll your kids or volunteer in the comprehensive tutoring and mentoring programs at Peace Community Center. Support youth in the arts at Fab-5. Hilltop offers a myriad of ways to get involved, give back, engage, and belong. Did we mention Tacoma Community House? It’s more than worthy of a mention. Their advocacy work began over a hundred years ago and they’re going strong in their work with refugees, immigrants, employment, and education.
If you’d really like to engage in this neighborhood, understand its roots, its concerns, its causes, and get deeper into what it means to participate in this community, get involved in the Hilltop Action Coalition. The HAC meets monthly in the community room at the Hilltop Regional Health Center during non-pandemic times. For now, catch up with them every Monday on Facebook LIVE for their Virtual Weekly Update. Know your neighborhood!
Image from Quickie Too Vegan Cafe - A locally owned spot for vegan comfort food just 1 mile from 1951 S. Hosmer.
HILLTOP BUSINESS DISTRICT
The heart of the Hilltop's business district stretches between S. 19th and S. 9th on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Favorites on MLK include The Fish House Cafe, a tiny blue restaurant serving fried fish and shrimp baskets for decades, Mr. Mac Ltd clothing store (opened in 1957 - read more about this Hilltop icon in this News Tribune article!), Johnson's Candy Company (since 1949!), Phở Bac and Phở King offering inexpensive Vietnamese food, and 2nd Cycle Community Cycle Center where bikes are rebuilt, donated, repaired, and shared, and there are always opportunities to get together and ride. Newer additions to the neighborhood like Red Elm Cafe, and bars like The Eleven Eleven Bar, Zodiac Supper Club, and 1022 S J (craft cocktails and food too) indicate the ever-changing character of this area.
Image from Johnson Candy Company a definite Hilltop institution and local favorite.
Take a look at our list of nearby favorite Tacoma destinations below. We’ve calculated the distance from the doorstep of 1951 S. Hosmer so you can start to imagine where you’d fit in the city if you make this house your home.
20 FAVORITE TACOMA DESTINATIONS WITHIN 1.5 MILES
(Travel times here are calculated for travel by car.)
Image from Manifesto Coffee, house-roasted beans served with friendliness, just a quick drive, ride, or roll away.
Image from People’s Community Center with a pool, gym, cultural events, classes, and annual events a 3 minute drive away.
Image from University of Washington Tacoma just over a mile from 1951 S. Hosmer in Tacoma’s downtown.
Dining, Drinks & Treats
Fish House Cafe: 0.7 miles, 2 minutes
Quickie Too A Vegan Cafe: 1 mile, 4 minutes
Le Donut: 1.1 miles, 3 minutes
The Eleven Eleven Bar: 1.2 miles, 4 minutes
Red Elm Cafe: 1.2 miles, 4 minutes
Phở King: 1.3 miles, 4 minutes
Manifesto Coffee Roasters: 1.3 miles, 4 minutes
Johnson Candy Company: 1.3 miles, 5 minutes
Parks, Community Centers & Activities
Buffalo Soldiers Museum: 0.3 miles, 1 minute
Peace Community Center: 0.5 miles, 2 minutes
People’s Community Center & Pool: 0.8 miles, 3 minutes
2nd Cycle Tacoma’s Community Cycle Center: 1.1 miles, 4 minutes
Alma Mater: 1.4 miles, 6 minutes
Groceries, Hospitals & Schools
Stanley Elementary School & Playfield: 0.6 miles, 3 minutes
St. Joseph Medical Center: 0.8 miles, 3 minutes
Safeway: 1 mile, 4 minutes
MultiCare Allenmore Hospital & Medical Center: 1 mile, 4 minutes
University of Washington Tacoma: 1.2 miles, 4 minutes
Target: 1.4 miles, 5 minutes
Evergreen State College Tacoma: 1.5 miles, 5 minutes
More Information From the Listing Agent
Come see this 1920s Hilltop home in person to get a feel for the layout, style, size, and location.
And feel free to call or text me, Michael Duggan, at 253-226-2787. I’ll be happy to answer your questions about this property, or talk with you about Tacoma and the local real estate market in general.
Recent Duggan Homes Listings
