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The neighborhood
was best known around town, not for architectural significance but
for housing more than its fair share of activists, professors, artists
and university students -- and for hosting more than its fair share
of student parties. Little was known of the history of the area.
We wondered, could Sehome Hill ever be deemed worthy of such lofty
recognition?
Even then we
knew that many of the houses were finely crafted, if modest, bungalows,
rich in woodworking details, both inside and out. We also knew that
we had the advantage of a beautiful setting, our homes nestled on
the north slope of a hill, many facing spectacular Mount Baker and
all seated just below the Sehome Arboretum, a tree-covered summit
and a rare, intact piece of Northwest forest within the city limits.
Inspired with
a can-do attitude by articles in American Bungalow, we decided to
start by investigating the history of each of our own houses. Little
did we know we had just taken our first tiny steps in what would
become an intensive, two-year journey. And this journey, involving
many neighbors and countless hours of work, would reveal that our
homes are a beautifully preserved piece of the Pacific Northwest's
ethnic and architectural history. The first thing we found was that
there were many closet bungalow-enthusiasts (and a few Victorian
and Four-Square lovers) in the neighborhood. The Sehome History
Group was born.
All novice researchers,
we served as a support group and cheering squad for one another
as we unearthed (sometimes literally in our homes and yards) the
long-past history of these houses. Students at nearby Western Washington
University, some of whom were also neighbors, joined the efforts.
Old love letters were found stashed in ancient walls. Mysterious
bullet holes were discovered in ceilings. We found original photographs
of the homes and yellowing title records that went all the way back
to the first purchases of our properties, often in the 1890s when
Sehome Hill's virgin forest had just been logged and people walked
past still-smoldering stumps to get to their newly constructed homes.
Neighbors worked
long evenings, studying maps and poring over directories -- some
created 100 years ago -- listing Bellingham residents, their occupations
and marital status. But what might have seemed a tedious task became,
for many, a delightful obsession, as the residents of the past came
vividly to life.
"I could really
visualize how the neighborhood was," says Carol Berry, who began
by researching her own home and ended up following the fates through
the directories of all the people who lived on her block. "I loved
it when you found out someone got a promotion or changed jobs. I
couldn't stop. I wanted to research the entire town."
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The vast
majority of the nearly 200 houses in the neighborhood were
built between 1890 and 1930 by the Scandinavian millworkers
and carpenters who also lived in the homes. These men were
the heart and soul of the region's booming lumber industry.
Long-time residents say the area was sometimes called "Snus
Hill," a reference to the snus or snuff used by Scandinavians.
Scandinavian
carpenters are famed for their woodworking skills and for
good reason. The houses, while often small in size, are surprisingly
rich in detailed woodworking ornamentation. And because millworkers
of the day were given great deals on excess lumber from their
employers, there was abundant use of local wood, especially
Douglas fir, in floors, built-ins, trim and doors. Fine wood
was so plentiful that these laborers of modest means used
a quality of wood that is hard, if not impossible, to come
by today, even in the support beams hidden beneath the floors.
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Articles in
the local paper profiled newly built bungalows in the neighborhood
and around town, and the style itself was praised. A 1910 Bellingham
Herald article said, "their coziness [exemplifies] the true home
life ... [providing] nearness to earth, incentive to outdoor exercise,
ventilation, pure air, possibility of scientific color treatment
with nature's surroundings ... all of which should result in good
health and general cheerfulness." So it seems!
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To
share our findings, we published a book, At Home on the Hill:
A historical album of an early 20th century neighborhood on
Sehome Hill (see box). It was here, in particular, that we
were able to draw on the eclectic talents of our neighborhood.
Residents who were first-rate photographers had taken countless
pictures, even aerial photographs of the neighborhood. Writers
wrote about the homes. A scientist compiled a database of
our research. A computer expert formatted and digitized. And
a neighborhood artist hand-lettered the cover on paper she
had made herself.
To top
it all off we threw ourselves a party at the local history
museum. (Here we discovered what fabulous cooks were hidden
on our streets.) It was on a sunny day -- a rare thing in
these parts -- and I was concerned that no one would come.
So I marvelled along with others as hundreds of people poured
in from around the city.
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Mayor Mark Asmundson
arrived and spoke of his pride in the neighborhood. The librarians
from every major library and collection in town came to accept copies
of the book. Our first printing -- which later made a local best
sellers' list -- sold out before the party was over. For many it
was a much-awaited honoring of the place they had long called home,
and more than a few people shed tears in fond remembrance of the
days they had spent on Sehome Hill. As my husband, Merrill Peterson,
said, "It was a huge shot in the arm for neighborhood self-esteem."
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Several
months later, I flew to Cheney, Wash., to attend the meeting
of the State Historic Advisory Council. After so many months
of wondering how it would all end, I enjoyed the soaring pleasure
of hearing these professional historians and preservationists
expound on the beauty and importance of our homes -- a ragtag
band of houses no more! The Sehome Hill Historic District
was officially listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
In the
end, though, our work resulted in something even more valuable.
You cannot spend months photographing, researching and scrutinizing
every detail, every house, ever corner of your neighborhood
without emerging unchanged yourself. Without ever trying or
expecting to, many of us, including some who had lived in
and loved these homes for decades, came to see the beautiful
bungalows on the hill with new eyes.
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