A Rare Opportunity
This corner Victorian, in the center of the historic North Slope ‘wedge’ of Tacoma, hasn’t been offered to the public in well over a century. This, most definitely, is a rare opportunity to own a unique piece of Tacoma history. The current owner is the second owner in nearly 125 years. It's now time to pass this on to the next steward.
In over four decades the current owner has embraced the tradition and responsibility of caring and maintaining this home. The evidence is apparent as one takes in the home and property.
Introduction to Upgrades
Upgrades have been mindful to the character of the home in appropriateness and for longevity. Over the years the plumbing has been upgraded to copper pipe, modern electrical panel box and wiring, 100 year warranty roof, high-efficiency forced air natural gas heat, high-efficiency hot water tank, storm windows and more. All lighting is LED and chosen for color correctness.
Carriage House Turned Modern Garage
The carriage house was ailing and beyond repair. It has been replaced by a modern 2 ½ car garage, constructed in similar fashion to the previous structure. The garage door, windows and the handle of the double door were salvaged from the original carriage house. It now houses storage, accessed from two swing-open doors from the original driveway and an impeccable two car garage accessed from the paved alley.
The sectional rollup garage door is flanked with boxwood hedges and automatic dusk to dawn vapor and tamper proof sconces. White smooth walls and ceiling, LED light fixtures, automatic garage door with WiFi capabilities provides a clean and bright haven for your vehicles
The garage steps and concrete were custom-made in the style of “waterfall” stair nosing’s and aged to match the era.
Mature Landscaping - Thoughtful Four Season Design
The extensive mature landscaping was designed to enhance the home and the corner lot. Nursery stock was specifically chosen for the various textures and color of the shrubbery. This provides a pleasing show in all four seasons.
The basic greenery are Silal, Skimmia, rhododendrons, azalea, European and Japanese boxwood, various laurels - standard and variegated, forsythia, thuja pyramidalis, Italian cypress, ferns, verbena, huchera, paschysandra, ivy, camellia (original to the home), calla lily, various bulbs and tubers, Japanese barberry.
Nursery stock was also chosen to be rugged, tough and disease resistant to minimize feeding and care. Other than watering and occasional feed, a spring and fall trimming is generally all that's required. A 12 zone commercial irrigation system takes the greatest care of the lawn, shrubbery, annuals and perennials. With sprays, pop ups, drip emitters etc., all is maintained in the summer with the most minimal use of water and ensuring maximum color and health. There are a multitude of bulbs and tubers, perennials that are a gift in the spring and a huge splash of color.
Front Yard Design and Porch Detail
Upon approaching the entry walk, notice the Victorian birdbath with the little frog on his island in the center. The front yard is framed by a low masonry wall with a parge-coat face, capped with brick. This ‘parging’ was a technique that was used in the last century on many fireplaces and first story walls of homes and buildings in the downtown area. Low-voltage automatic in ground well-lights backlight the shrubbery along the walkway to the porch. Once upon the porch, before you is a beautiful mahogany door with its heavy brass, beautifully aged and the stained glass with German colored prisms and iridescent Kokomo glass, the same glass maker that supplied Tiffany for his projects.
Back Yard - Custom Patio and Fencing
Leaving the house through the back door with the “original” mechanical doorbell, you enter the backyard onto a cobblestone patio. Its edges have been carefully cut and contoured to radiused and rounded corners with a double edging of cut cobbles. The private back yard with its lawn, shares incredible morning sun with a huge purple lilac tree that is as old as the house.
The original old growth fence posts along the sidewalk were reused, though originally larger in dimension than they are now. The rotten ends were removed, the posts resurfaced through a planning machine, and reset in metal brackets placed in concrete. Good for another hundred years!
Other Outdoor Details of Note
Rarely seen anymore, atop the house is the Ridgecrest. An iconic Victorian adornment.
Among the sculpted lawn and beds are fences, gates and arbors. All of cedar and dark oil stained.
At the front of the house, the brick walkway and the boxwood along the ‘M’ street parkway hosts mature thundercloud flowering plum trees, as does the 9th Street side.
Natural Light and Marine Breezes
The morning sun, both winter and summer, flood the front porch. It's a great place to have morning coffee and read the Sunday paper on the steps. The morning sun illuminates the kitchen from the side window. In the summer mornings it virtually glows. As the sun sets in late afternoon and into the evening, the glow comes into the kitchen through the back porch windows and into the bay window of the dining room. The house blooms with warm light, it's absolutely beautiful. The way that the house lines up facing the bay, you can count on cool morning breezes entering the back door if you wish. In the evening it reverses due to the marine influence, open the front door and the cool breeze from the bay comes through the house. In summer the house is so beautiful in its golden colors. The fall and winter are equally so with their own color palette
Storm Protection
The house being vertical rather than horizontal is easy to heat. With the storm windows and the bulk of the southwest winds and rains being blocked by the neighboring houses, thus buffering winter storms. The north and west sides continue to take in what winter sun there is. In the fall and winter the house is very cozy, warm, and quiet as the lighting creates an inviting environment. Walking by at night and looking into the house you just want to be inside.
Local Lumber and Original Fir Floors
This home was built entirely of indigenous local woods. No east coast materials such as oak, were used with exception of the oak fireplace mantle. All woods were harvested here and milled on the tide flats at St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber, at which the first owner of this house was bookkeeper.
It is extremely rare to find a staircase balustrade with its king post, newels and rail to be made of western red cedar. Made from the infamous ‘Giant’ timber of the northwest that made this area famous. Cedars wider than a man is tall. The deep brownish red coming through has the most rich, deep luster. It is impossible to resist reaching out to place your hand on the carved round top Newell post. The floors are the original fir floors. Extreme care was exercised in removing just the finish and replying a fresh topcoat. It was imperative not to erase the amber of aging and the evidence of over a centuries use.
As is customary in restoration work, repairs are done in a proper and thoughtful manner and well executed. Common in restoration work, it is never advisable to disguise a repair as if it never happened. Severely worn pieces near the kitchen swinging door were replaced by making custom flooring to match utilizing a piece of timber removed from the kitchen wall. This insured the exact same grain.
Trim and Other Original Details of Note
In the entryway, under the staircase, is the cloak nook with its quaint hangers.
The original doors with their transom lights, floral design steeple head cast iron hinges and turned wood doorstops are original.
The home is complete with all its original trim, 11 inch baseboards, picture rail, spandrels, fluted door and window casings, Bullseye head blocks, bottom plinths, and corner protectors to protect the plaster walls from damage
First Floor
The first floor comprises the entry, with main staircase and cloak nook, the parlor (living room), dining room, sitting room, kitchen, half bath and staircase behind the stove to the maid’s room.
Parlor Details
The fireplace is oak with Victorian burgundy glaze tiles and cast-iron surround. The fireplace is built in the Rumford style
The original mechanical door bell that now resides on the back door, was replaced by a two note chime.
The French doors and milk glass light fixtures were added in 1924.
In the main parlor, what we call the living room now, is a Gasolier light fixture with holophane shades. It was a hybrid gas and electric fixture originally. In the day, dubious of electricity, the old standard gas fixture was always on standby!
Sitting Room - Adjacent to Dining Room
In years past the sitting room was used by family. Comfortable chairs, bookcases or maybe for music and a piano. The parlor was usually closed by drapes or doors and off limits except for visitors, special events or when the preacher came calling.
Kitchen Details - Custom Cabinetry, Countertops, and Lighting
The kitchen has been upgraded and specifically designed and built to the theme of the original. The custom cabinets built of solid wood are painted white with black iron hardware. High grade white Melamine cabinet interiors have adjustable shelves and are bright and easy to clean, The drawers are solid red alder with dovetail construction, European hinges and hardware are used. Pull out trash bin and vertical tray storage are also provided. Classic elements have been "dovetailed" with contemporary styling assuring timelessness.
The stone countertop was specifically chosen to be reminiscent of the chalkboards in the old school houses. However rather than slate, a more uniform surface was desired. This most unusual black granite was chosen with a unique surface. Neither fire faced nor honed, it has a soft and even surface. The island cabinet is capped with a maple butcher block with pendant lights above for lighting and a kitchen stool nests beneath.
All the appliances are well above entry level appliances. All have been researched for their build, features and overall quality.
The stainless steel apron front sink is a deep commercial unit with heavy stainless steel racks, deep wells, and disposal. The faucet is a single stem, high arc faucet with pull out spray head.
Ultra quiet stainless steel dishwasher, stainless steel side-by-side counter depth refrigerator, and stainless steel microwave. The stainless steel stove is a five burner gas range and convection oven with griddle. The stainless steel exhaust hood has halogen lighting and three stage exhaust fan with extremely high efficiency. In addition there is a whole room exhaust fan as well. The lighting consists of general room lighting, task lighting, undercabinet lighting and accent lighting.
Domestic Helper Historical Notes
The rear staircase behind the stove goes to the miniscule bedroom of the maid. More properly, Domestic Helper or Servant. With the huge influx of European immigrants seeking opportunity for a life here, it was affordable by modest homes to employ such help. Monday through Saturday was common. Sunday was a day off for most domestic help. When they could walk or take a trolley to meet friends, relatives, and other family members who were working in the city as well. In all parts of the city were Churches and Halls that served as community gathering places for all the Irish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegians etc.
Second Floor
Climbing the bound carpet stair runner to the second floor you will find it entirely carpeted. A beautiful soft gray/green high quality carpet timeless in design and is easy to decorate around. It’s very quiet as you go from room to room. Each room is very unique in and of itself with colored glass and bays.
Full Bath
At the end of the hall to the right is the bathroom with a tiled shower and swinging door and its original clawfoot bath tub. Quite unusual as it is six feet in length! A foot longer than most clawfoots! The cabinetry and countertop mirrors the kitchen. Bright, airy and open.
Laundry Room
At the very end of the hall is the door to the maid’s room. A bit smaller than original, having the tiled shower in the bathroom taking floor space on this side of the wall. None the less, it serves well now as the laundry room with its stacked high efficiency front load washer and dryer. Just outside this room, natural light is also afforded with a most unusual and beautiful etched glass window at the top of the small staircase.
Setting and Neighborhood Cadence
In the morning and in the evening, a quick glance to the west either from the alley as you park in the garage or from the front yard, the tops of the Olympic Mountains can be seen with summer sunsets or winter snow. Walking alongside the house on ninth street towards M St. you can look straight down the hill over the top of Annie Wright school to the Bay.. It's wonderful to see the blue water and to look across to Brown's Point and gauge whether it’s a high tide or low by the amount of beach showing.
The cadence of this neighborhood is like a heartbeat. In the morning you can hear the occasional cars starting up and people going to work, the city bus gathers people as they make their morning runs somewhat muffled and quiet. Shortly it becomes quiet for the bulk of the day. Extremely so. Broken only by the sound of distant lawn care, UPS trucks, mail deliveries and neighborhood activities and such. In the evening it begins again in reverse as the buses go by and cars return to their familiar parking places. You can hear kids play outside and then around dinner time all becomes quiet again. After dinner hour the activity is by foot power. Older folks going for walks, families going for walks, pushing strollers, walking dogs, people saying hello as they pass. In the summer this can go on into the dark. Once again it becomes ridiculously quiet. It's hard to believe this is in a city
The sounds I feel are extra special are the variety of birds, the far away muffled sounds of the train along the waterfront when he sounds his horn. If you listen very carefully you can hear the clack of the wheels on the track, When the fog sets in on the water you can hear the muffled sound of the fog horn for the ships, and the church bells form St. Patrick’s several blocks to the Northwest, striking the hour.
For more information about this beautiful North Slope Historic District Victorian, e-mail, call or text me, Michael Duggan, at 253-226-2787. I'll be happy to answer your questions about this home or the local real estate market in general.
