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Saturday, January 9, 2010

A house for Karen

House in Astoria, Oregon This large stucco house sits at the corner of 4th Street and Franklin Avenue. I took the photos on the same overcast and misty day as I took the picture of the "Ships on cotton" from a vantage point just down the street.

House in Astoria, Oregon Here's the house from the side and back. About this house, Karen wrote: "Can't wait to see the picture of the old house. When we had it, it was covered with ivy, and I mean covered. Dad loved the ivy, so we could never paint the house. The people who bought it from mom took it all down. Last time I looked at the house, it seemed to me it had been turned into 2 apartments. Lord knows it was big enough. Dad built a deck out over the garage that could be accessed from the big bedroom upstairs that we used as a party room. We had a great view from it."

I see now that the deck must be on the other side. Karen also sent an interesting story about one of the other houses in the neighborhood, so when I go back to take its photo and post the story, I'll see if I can get a picture of the deck on this house. Each house in Astoria has its own style and history. One of the unusual things about the house in today's post is that it's made of stucco. In Astoria, that's the exception, as most houses are made of wood.

House in Astoria, Oregon The design on the on the pillar looks somewhat Italianate to me, although I'm not an expert. I believe the Italian trend in the U.S. was prominent in the Victorian era, when many of our local houses were built. However, whether the trim on the column is new or old, I can't say.

Karen sent e-mail with more about this house:

January 9, 2010

It looks so much better than it used to. . . . I mentioned the house was a dirt-brown color when we lived there. The ivy on that side was so thick that Mom and I would have to get on Dad to trim it away from the windows every so often so we could get some light. My room was the one upstairs on the chimney side and the ivy went all the way up there. Every Christmas Dad would thread lights through the leafless ivy branches. It took him an entire weekend usually. It became tradition that when the lights started going up, Fritz would concoct the first of many of that year's batches of glogg and he and Art Sandstrom would come over and straw-boss the whole operation. It is amazing that between the usually stormy weather and the glogg, Dad never fell off the ladder.

A couple other interesting things is that the house has an 8-x-8-inch sold oak beam that runs in one piece the entire length of the house. It is there to stay. Another is that this year will my graduating class at Star of the Sea will be celebrating our 50th reunion. The class voted to have our all-night graduation party at my house because of the big bedroom upstairs that we used as a party room. The deck is over the garage on the other side of the house from your picture. Dad was something of a character too. I have some old news clippings and pictures that I will dig out and send you one of these days. I think you will get a kick out of them.

8 comments:

IamMBB said...

Trying to imagine the house covered in ivy. I like it so much the way it's pictured now, it's hard to imagine it otherwise.

Undercover Mother said...

This is a really beautiful home!

cieldequimper said...

I think it would look even better with a little ivy, especially as it's green.
Have a great Sunday!

Lowell said...

A wonderful old house! Stucco is usual in many parts of Florida usually done over concrete block, although sometimes wood.

Houses like this have a particular fascination for me as I lived in several when a youngster.

Another most interesting post about your fascinating city!

TheFrogBag said...

How interesting! It is hard to picture it that covered with ivy. It must have been some job to pry it off the stucco! Great post!

Don and Krise said...

I really like this house. I'm a big fan of the craftsman era and this place sure fits the bill. Boy, it's really good sized too. It's nice that the owners are taking such good care of it. I do have to say though the gingerbread on the brick pillars look like they don't quite belong.

Tara said...

That is a beautiful house and yeah I'm with ciel that a li'l ivy would make it look better with the green paint. BTW, thanks for putting me up on your Featured Blogs, that is so nice of you. I've now added you on my list too, I didn't realize at first that you had a CDP blog. Have a nice week!

VP said...

I'm trying to remind where I saw a design almost identical the the ones on the pillar. This is a beautiful house of a size unknown to us, living in small apartments! And they even enlarged it...

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