2808 N 8th St, Tacoma
Listed $575,000/Sold $715,000
4 Beds
2 Baths
2,307 Sq Ft
Sometimes a house is a house; sometimes it’s a work of art. Refinished maple and oak floors, restored Craftsman style, reclaimed period fixtures, a renovated bath, refreshing light, reveal beauty at every turn. This art—with its valuable updates to the plumbing (including a new sewerline) and wiring, rebuilt chimney, new French drain, all protected by a roof new in 2015—does indeed work. On the main floor a tiled hearth, built-ins, wainscoting, and hardwoods tell the story of an era of craft and quality. The 2nd floor suite with its fireside sitting room invites you to retreat. The newly revitalized and waterproofed finished basement with a separate entry, bedroom and full bath gives flexibility.
Imaginative landscaping and design transform a deck and outbuilding into an idyllic open-air dining room and bonsai studio. Step through French doors into the weather-proofed garden workshop where large windows look out over the world of the deck. What might you create in there? The whole home seems to ask this question: what might you create?
This home doesn’t have what you might think of as a traditional American yard, there’s no lawn here, yet it’s surrounded by life, offers low-maintenance garden space, and invites you to spend time outdoors. In front a Japanese maple and an array of beautiful shrubs provide some privacy, a lot of texture, and a good bit of green while allowing for light. There’s a fern grotto where hellebores thrive, paving stone paths softened by groundcover, and ample spots for potted trees, flowers, tomatoes, and herbs. Lavender and tulips adorn the low rock wall along the alley side and a wide grass planting strip gives some space from the street.
2808 N 8th St is set in North Tacoma, but it belongs just as much to the eclectic bustle of the 6th Avenue District and its annual festivals like Art on the Ave as it does to the historic homes and garden gates of the surrounding residential streets. Half a mile from the walkable University of Puget Sound campus where you can amble along paved paths beside giant rhododendrons or pause in the shade of towering conifers, this Craftsman is also just a three to five minute walk from local coffee roasters, The Red Hot (the hot dog joint that serves up a vegan menu alongside the bratwurst), and a fresh juice bar. As you sit beside the fireplace enjoying the quiet privacy of your living room, you’re mere blocks from happy hour, weekend brunch, date-night takeout destinations, and vintage/vinyl shopping galore.
Continue on for the video tour, photos, details, and a list of 20 Tacoma favorites nearby.
Main Floor
Entry
Living Room
Dining Room
Kitchen
2 Bedrooms
Full Bath
Second Floor
Landing
Walk-in Closet
Sitting Room
Bedroom
Finished Basement
Bedroom
Full Bath
Laundry Area
Storage
Separate Entry
Outside
Landscaped Front Yard
Wraparound Deck
Garden Studio Workshop
Covered Front Porch
Fully Fenced Side Yard
Covered Front Porch & Entry
A paving stone pathway softened with groundcover plants leads to a covered porch and a front door of solid stained wood with the traditional panels of glass at the top. It’s worth stopping here for a while. This is where your porch swing goes, your bench, your welcome mat, your hanging baskets. We understand if you don’t pause for long though. So much awaits inside.
Living Room
From the covered front porch, step into an entry that opens to this beauty of a living room. Refinished oak hardwoods underfoot and a smooth ceiling overhead (no popcorn here!) partner with simple white walls and plentiful natural light to create a room designed to satisfy the senses. That’s what this house does. It weaves white and wood, bright and shade, detail and simplicity into a place of harmony.
A tile hearth and built-ins flank the fireplace with its distinctive reclaimed copper surround. Windows face north and east. Craftsman casings define the doorways and windows, and you'll notice solid wood molding at the ceiling as well.
You’ll want to be here. Just be, with your thoughts, with the daylight, with your hot tea, with your iced coffee, with your companions.
Dining Room
Once you reach the dining room, don’t just pass through. Look, and look again. One doesn’t tire of looking at a room bathed in eastern window light, warm with wood, wrapped in wainscoting. And the wainscoting is topped by plate rail, so if you were wondering where to put your prettiest plates, wonder no more. A half-wall and cased opening divide the living room from the dining room, or rather, connects the living room to the dining room—you can decide which way you want to think about that.
Refinished oak floors, and solid millwork continue and the dining room overlooks the deck, so you can look right out from your indoor dining space to the outdoor dining space (we'll take you out there soon). You might be noticing vintage light switches as you move throughout the house. The home is extensively rewired. These old-fashioned switches and period-appropriate fixtures are a testament to the dedication to the Craftsman era aesthetic.
Since we’re talking about power and electricity, we’ll mention this too: homeowners are responsible for the portion of the power line connecting a house to the public utility, so you’ll be glad to know the line from this home to the power pole is underground, keeping it much more protected, and exposing the homeowner to less risk.
Two Main Floor Bedrooms
You'll find two main floor bedrooms on the west side of the home and here the floors change from the oak you saw in the dining room to maple. This bright bedroom gets wonderful afternoon light. The walls are a touch warmer than this image shows, toned more toward pink, but you'll see that when you visit the home in person. With two doors, one from the entry, one from the hall, this bedroom also makes an excellent office or studio space.
This 2nd main floor bedroom is found outside the kitchen at the southwest corner of the home. Notice the warm maple floors, the picture rail trim, and the windows facing both west and south. Another room with generous light.
Main Floor Full Bath
In the hall between the main floor bedrooms stands a renovated full bath with a pleasing penny tile floor. It gives just the right amount of texture underfoot. How a floor looks matters, and how it feels matters too. Easily accessible from the living area, and yet still private, this bath is designed with calm colors, clean lines, and thoughtful details. One of those thoughtful details is the shower door with its double hinge. This design allows you to fold the glass door out of the way for easy access to the tub.
Not shown, but well worth mentioning is a vintage built-in the homeowners installed in the hallway just outside the full bath, adding a bit more storage and a bit more character as well.
Kitchen
Step into the kitchen from the deck, the dining room, or the basement stairwell. You'll find a brand new cooktop, a full set of appliances, good light, and good access to the outdoors too. Carry dishes straight out the back door for meals on the deck. It's a working kitchen already, but there's so much potential here. For example, that area of the wall covered by white tile between the stove and the prep counter has brick behind it. Remove the tile for exposed brick detail. Also, note there's gas to the house, so the gas line could be extended to the kitchen for a gas cookstove if you're contemplating a remodel. The south window, once glass blocks, is now a reclaimed window with wood muntins between the panes. The tiled ledge below is perfect for houseplants and seedlings.
2nd Floor Suite
The 2nd floor is an inviting retreat space up and away from the main activity of the home. Long built-in book cases line the west wall. Picture rail trim creates the opportunity for a gallery along the stairwell, and soon we'll visit that closet with a glass door you see at the stop of the stairs.
A fireside sitting room is an unexpected comfort, a place apart, a quiet spot for reading, watching movies, setting out a puzzle or game. With a place for a tv up here, the living room downstairs can remain screen free.
The sitting room with its gas stove and east windows leads to the 2nd floor bedroom. We really like the idea of this 2nd floor as a suite with the bedroom, sitting room, library shelves, and walk-in closet all set aside as a continuous private space.
This bedroom under the eaves feels protected and cozy. The painted wooden floor provides contrast to dark walls. Listen to rain on the roof, raise the window for fresh night air, or pull the blinds for shade.
Set up a reading nook on the south wall at the top of the stairs. Build up a library in those bookshelves, or set out treasures. On the left, a glass door invites you into an intriguing closet space.
This walk-in closet under the eaves is one more place for stowing linens, clothes, shoes, books, art supplies, whatever it is you keep around. Notice the exposed brick in the back corner, that's the brick that extends down into the kitchen as we described earlier. There’s something to notice and discover around every corner in this home.
Finished Basement
Now we go from the top of the house down to the finished basement. Find the basement stairwell just outside the kitchen. A brand new stair runner and railing leads you down. The finished basement has just been redone with brand new luxury vinyl plank flooring, new trim, and solid wood doors.
Take a left at the bottom of the stairwell toward the bedroom. A closet is set into the wall at the foot of the bed and the new flooring, paint and trim keep this room bright and open. If you're really looking to get creative you could work on designs for a complete separate living space down here, could even consider opening up the wall to create a kitchenette under the stairs. Or simply keep this as a comfortable bedroom. It’s already a nice place.
A new French drain installed by All Seasons keeps the basement dry. You'll be glad to know there’s a lifetime warranty on the waterproofing work in the basement.
Just outside the bedroom find the home's 2nd full bath with fresh, new fixtures and clean white surfaces that invite your colorful shower curtain and towels to join in. The new luxury vinyl plank flooring continues from the hall and bedroom into the bathroom.
Take a right at the bottom of the stairs to enter the basement storage and workshop space. Bring your tools, canned goods, cleaning supplies, camping gear, and other odds and ends. There's a washer and dryer ready for laundry, and some additional storage shelves set into the wall. The exit door to the left of the dryer is the basement's separate entry and leads up to the deck. You'll also find the water heater and furnace in this area.
Garden Workshop - Bonsai Studio
As promised, we’re finally stepping outside for more than just a glimpse of the deck, outdoor dining room, and the extraordinary garden studio just beyond. The garden workshop, or bonsai studio, is weatherproofed and full of light. Tile floor, knotted wood walls, high ceiling, and infinite possibility.
Step down from the kitchen door into the workshop, the place where you work with tools and seeds, paints and pottery. Notice also the separate entry stairwell into the finished basement from the deck just outside the workshop door.
Deck, Outdoor Dining, Garden & Grounds
This is the place to eat all summer long, the place to sit with friends and drinks and bowls of snacks and music floating out from the house. This is the place to imaginatively incorporate green and growing things, pots and planters, herbs, succulents, flowers and potted trees to surround your dining table.
The rebuilt chimney stands against the living room exterior wall. A bar counter below the dining room windows is an ideal spot for plants to sit, or pull up some stools and pour a tall glass of lemonade.
The outdoor dining area is private and protected with convenient ledges for setting plants, or items for your meals. A window in the deck wall overlooks the garden and a lower deck where there's a sunny spot for lounge chairs.
Step into the garden through a gate in the front walk. A hand-built wood shed with a living roof—growing an array of moss and succulents—stands on the right. Take stepping stones to the lower deck level or into the garden on the left. The dining deck and garden workshop are just beyond.
The garden and grounds are planted thoughtfully, with an eye for texture, variety, beauty, and a bit of privacy from the sidewalk while still allowing light in through the living room windows. The effect is inviting, and the result is a fairly low-maintenance yard that only takes the homeowners about 45 minutes to weed. Walk around to the alley side of the house to see sunny yellow tulips blooming alongside lavender bushes and low-growing plants.
North 8th is curbed with a wide grass planting strip giving homes extra space from the street. A rock wall in front of 2808 N 8th supports a garden bed full of ornamental shrubs, low maintenance ground cover, ferns, hellebores, and a Japanese maple too.
In this aerial view, we're looking over the property from the east. You'll notice the garden spaces, the rebuilt chimney, the living roof of the little woodshed beside it, and the very good state of the house roof.
Another aerial view, this time from the southwest, shows the deck wrapping around behind the house and workshop where light from the south nurtures plants. Notice also the wide grass planting strip in front, and the tidy paved alley. It’s a compact lot that’s well designed so it can be well used and very much enjoyed.
Location
Image from 6th Ave Tacoma - 6th Ave is lined with restaurants, bars, vintage shops, record shops, donut shops, breakfast joints, and all things in between.
When you’re here at 2808 N 8th St you’re in North Tacoma, and you can follow the tree-shaded sidewalks farther and farther north until you see the saltwater sparkling below taking in the arched garden gates and quiet front porches as you go. Or, you can take yourself—quick as a wink— to the spiced, brewed, bottled, and baked offerings of 6th Ave.
Image from Bluebeard Coffee Roasters - It’s about a 10 minute walk to Bluebeard, so you almost earn your caffeine.
Go ahead, slip into your boots or slide on your sandals. Follow your nose to the ginger-lemon brightness of Gather Juice Co., or turn toward that toasted sugar scent emanating from Legendary Doughnuts. Maybe you’re ready for the hopped and ambered part of your weekend, with more of an ear for “IPA” than “wellness shot.” State Street Beer and The Red Hot can take care of you. And so many of these places are well-practiced at the good old to-go order, so you can pick up at the window and head for home if that’s more your speed.
But fresh juice, smoothies, wellness lattes, brick oven pizzas, natural wines, doughnuts, and brews are really only the very tip of the 6th Avenue iceberg. We haven’t even talked about coffee yet. You have local roasters to the east and west. The sun rises over Bluebeard Coffee Roasters and sets on Valhalla Coffee Co., so your appetite for that distinct blend of aromatics and atmosphere will no doubt be met by these two. Is a friend visiting for the weekend? You can let them choose from tacos, hot dogs, South American, All American, small plates, craft cocktails, handmade pasta, curry, burgers, and bar food. And you can get there on foot, or roll there on wheels. And you can turn around for brunch the next day. We wish you luck with your decisions.
Image from Primo Grill - Stop in at Primo for happy hour or date night, just 4 minutes from home on foot.
Okay, there’s plenty to eat and at least as much to drink. But there are also strolls to and through the beautiful University of Puget Sound campus, and ambles along sidewalks beside homes from the early and mid 20th century toward the Three Bridges District where you’ll find another local favorite coffee shop, Lander Coffee, less than a mile away.
Here on the north side of 6th you’re in the center of so many of Tacoma’s favorite areas like Stadium to the east and Proctor to the northwest, with 6th Ave itself to take you all the way through the city—east to everything downtown or west to The Narrows. We think you’ll like it here.
You can learn more on our 6th Avenue Neighborhood Page and at 6th Ave Tacoma. And to give you an even better idea of where this Craftsman fits into the city, take a look at our list of 20 Tacoma destinations close by.
Image from University of Puget Sound - Take a walk to and around the beautiful UPS campus.
20 Favorite Tacoma Destinations Nearby
Image from Gather Juice Co. - Gather will keep you healthy, you might find yourself there daily since it’s, oh, 0.2 miles away.
6th Ave - walking time calculated
The Red Hot: 0.2 miles/4 minutes
Asado: 0.1 miles/3 minutes
Engine House No. 9: 0.1 miles/3 minutes
Primo Grill: 0.2 miles/4 minutes
Gather Juice Co.: 0.2/5 minutes
Field Bar & Bottle Shop: 0.2 miles/5 minutes
Gateway to India: 0.3 miles/5 minutes
MSM Deli: 0.4 miles/9 minutes
Bluebeard Coffee Roasters: 0.4 miles/9 minutes
State Street Beer: 0.4 miles/9 minutes
Valhalla Coffee Co.: 0.9 miles/19 minutes
Image from The Red Hot - Hot dogs, vegan dogs, mac and cheese, lots of beer, and oh so close.
North End + Proctor
University of Puget Sound: 0.5 miles/10 minutes
Lander Coffee: 0.8 miles/15 minutes (walking)
Cooks Tavern: 1.2 miles/24 minutes (walking)
Tacoma Public Library Wheelock Branch: 1.5 miles/5 minutes (driving)
Metropolitan Market: 1.7 miles/5 minutes (driving)
Stadium District
Wright Park: 1.2 miles/25 minutes (walking)
MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital: 1.2 miles/6 minutes (driving)
The Grand Cinema: 1.5 miles/7 minutes (driving)
McMenamins Elks Temple: 1.7 miles/8 minutes (driving)
More Information From the Listing Agent
Come see this North Tacoma Craftsman 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.
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