Thirteen Projects Awarded 2008 Rehabilitation Grants by 4Culture
May 9, 2008 - May is national Preservation Month. To celebrate, Preservation 4Culture announces a new slate of Landmark Rehabilitation Program awardees. Thirteen historic structures - including a 1950 Northwest-style lodge and one of King County's oldest and most significant 19th-century commercial buildings - will receive a total of $95,400 in grants. The program supports the preservation of designated county landmarks by providing funds for rehabilitation work, such as construction-related planning and design, architectural and engineering expenses, and materials and labor.
 This year's grant recipients include the Lake Wilderness Lodge, which is owned by the City of Maple Valley. The 1950 structure embodies characteristics of Northwest-style architecture including glass curtain walls, planar finishes, and floating horizontal slabs. The LRP award of $7,500 will fund restoration of existing cedar siding, which is one component of a much larger $1.1 million restoration project.
 Another LRP grant will pave the way for work on the Peter Kirk Building in Kirkland, described by the grant review committee as one of the most important late 19th-century buildings still standing in the county. The $12,000 award will fund an architectural structural condition review and work to mitigate drainage problems. Completed in 1892 by Kirkland founder Peter Kirk, the building has housed the Kirkland Arts Center since the early 1960s. "It's one of the tent poles of the community arts scene," says Christopher Shainin, the center's executive director.
This year's LRP program provided some funding to all thirteen applicants, who together requested a total of $166,132. The applications were reviewed by a panel of five citizen volunteers with expertise in historic preservation and architecture. Eligible applicants are designated King County landmarks, suburban City landmarks located in jurisdictions participating in the King County Interlocal Preservation Program, or contributing properties located within a King County or KCIPP landmark district. Recommended awards ranged from $5,000 to $12,000.
More 2008 Landmark Rehabilitation Program Grant Recipients
 American Legion Post #79 Headquarters
(Renton-Pickering Post #79, American Legion, $7,900): Originally constructed across the street as the Snoqualmie Methodist Church, the building derives its significance from its association with the American Legion Post established in 1926. The grant will fund ongoing restoration work.
 Bereiter House and Carriage Barn (Greater Kent Historical Society, $10,000): Constructed in 1908 by Emil Bereiter, a prominent local businessman and mayor of Kent, this American Foursquare has significant Craftsman details and maintains a high level of integrity. The award funds foundation repair and restoration on the carriage house, leading to reuse as an interpretive center for farming and logging history in Kent.
 Burton Masonic Hall (Mark P. Waterman #177 Masonic Lodge, $5,000): Constructed in approximately 1894, the Burton Masonic Hall in Burton is a rare intact example of vernacular architecture that has been in continuous ownership for its original purpose, a building housing a fraternal organization for more than 100 years. The funds will be used for an exterior restoration plan.
 Dougherty Farmstead (City of Duvall, $6,000): Established in 1884, the Dougherty Farm in Duvall is closely associated with the early settlement and agricultural development of the Snoqualmie River Valley. The property is the core of a once-prosperous 160-acre dairy, and it illustrates the evolution of a working farm in relation to the changing dairy industry in King County. Funds are earmarked for restoration of a garage built in 1919.
 Hjertoos Farm (Roger Thorson, $7,000): Norwegian immigrants Andrew and Bergette Hjertoos purchased the farm, which dates to 1883, in 1901. The highly distinctive timber frame hay/dairy barn and the ornate farmhouse in Carnation were constructed in 1907-1909. Now called the Carnation Tree Farm, the property remains in the ownership of the Hjertoos' great-grandson. The award will go toward repair of water damage and dry rot on the house's lower front porch.
 Jovita Land Company Model Home (Scott and Susan Stevens, $5,000): Constructed 1908-10, the Corbett House in Auburn appears to be one of only two extant examples of approximately 20 model homes built to promote Jovita and Jovita Heights, a large suburban tract developed in conjunction with the Interurban railway service in south King County. Funds will pay for repair of the west side of the third-floor roof.
 Mary Olson Farm (White River Valley Museum, $10,000): Established in 1879, the Olson Farm in Auburn was owned and occupied for nearly 100 years by the Swedish immigrant family of Mary Olson Johnson. It is a rare historic farmstead directly associated with subsistence farming, hop ranching, diversified market and dairy farming. The 2008 LRP grant will go toward finishing restoration of the smokehouse, weaving shed, and outhouse.
 Charles and Minnie Moore House (Irene Pike, $7,500): Built around 1905 in Fall City, the house is very similar in design to company homes in nearby Preston. It exhibits vertical plank or "box" construction, a simple, inexpensive and expeditious method of home building not well documented in King County. The award will fund replacement of century-old wiring.
 Neighbors-Bennett House (Jennifer Vierling, Tim Coulter, $7,500): Constructed in 1904, the Queen Anne style house in Fall City has a distinctive gable roof and dormers, decorative shingles, diamond-paned windows and ornate porch details. The house and grounds maintain the distinctive character of the town's historic residential neighborhood. The award will fund restoration of the existing front porch and stabilization of the porch's foundation.
 Quaale Log House (Harley Blanchard, Lisa Blanchard, $5,000): Constructed in approximately 1903 by Norwegian immigrant Rasmus Quaale, the house has the architectural lines of a classic farmhouse, but is built of logs which were cut and hauled to the site from the surrounding hillsides. The grant will fund replacement of the leaking roof.
 Hilmar and Selma Steen House (Samuel Rentfro, $5,000): Constructed in 1910, this house is a remarkably intact example of Craftsman style architecture and exhibits distinctive exterior and interior features of the style. Use of indigenous building materials milled at the Steen family mill on site enhance the property's significance. The LRP grant will help support the replacement of the wood shingled roof.
For more information on the Landmark Rehabilitation Program, contact Flo Lentz, Preservation 4Culture, 206-296-8682.
related links
|
