Published: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Old and new: 1888 Snohomish home now combines the best of both
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Snohomish Historical Society
The historic Dubuque House, built in 1888 on Avenue D in Snohomish, featured Italian-influenced architecture by local architect J.S. White, who planned and built the home for pioneer lumberman E.H. Elwell and his family. The structure was divided in 1913 by another well-known local architect, N.P. Hansen, creating two homes that exist today.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Light pours into the second-story master bedroom, brightening up the home’s original fir floors.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Lori Sterley’s love of chandeliers and antiques shines in the home’s entry.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
The Dubuque home’s Italianate architecture includes tall, narrow windows, an almost flat roof and eaves decorated with intricate brackets.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
A blue patterned bedspread plays off blue floral linoleum in an upstairs bedroom.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
A modern kitchen is partially open to the dining and living rooms near the front of the house.
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Lori Sterley and her dog, Boo, sit in a bright blue upstairs bedroom.
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Original stair treads and the upper banister highlight the journey up the stairs in Lori Sterley’s home.
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An antique radio under the painting sits in the corner of the dining room. The breezeway opens to the kitchen.
In Snohomish, a city well-known for its historic Victorian and craftsman homes, Italianate architecture is a rarity.
That’s partly why the historic Dubuque House, open to the public Sunday as part of the Snohomish Historical Society’s 38th annual tour, is so unusual.
Built in 1888, it features the architectural style’s tall, narrow windows, low-pitched roof and eaves decorated with intricate brackets.
Unlike many turn-of-the-century homes cluttered with servants’ staircases and small, divided rooms, its spaces are large, open and flowing.
For Lori Sterley, who grew up in Snohomish and wanted to move back, it was all too enchanting to pass up.
In 2003, she bought the house, which sits on busy Avenue D in the heart of Snohomish, with her father, Ralph Sterley.
She spent the next few years remodeling, adding modern as well as historically appropriate touches throughout its 2,000 square feet with help from her father, now 84.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she said, walking around the home through lush landscaping. “It’s a pretty amazing house.”
Sterley’s home is named for its most prominent owners, longtime residents Stanley and Ruth Dubuque.
The Dubuques purchased the home from Ruth Dubuque’s mother, Ruth Brodigan in 1940, and lived there until their deaths. Ruth Dubuque died in 1984. Stanley Dubuque, who was a longtime county auditor, died in 2002.
The Dubuques were active members in the early days of the Snohomish Historical Society, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Society president Warner Blake said putting the Dubuque home on the tour not only honors the Sterleys’ investments in the old home but also the Dubuques’ contributions to the society.
“Without people like Ruth and Stan, there wouldn’t be a historic district,” Blake said of the couple, who helped put part of Snohomish on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. “The Dubuques were right there from the beginning.”
Indeed, the family goes back way back.
Stanley Dubuque’s grandfather came to Snohomish in 1868 and helped establish a small town north of Snohomish called Dubuque, according to society records. Today only Dubuque Road remains of the short-lived settlement.
Sterley, whose extensive collection of antiques complements the architecture of the Dubuque home, said she can feel the care the family took in maintaining their Snohomish property.
“The Dubuques loved their house with a passion,” she said. “It was immaculate.”
That doesn’t mean it didn’t need work, of course, said Sterley, 48.
The Dubuques had remodeled the home with 1970s interiors, including green carpeting and paneling. They, or perhaps a previous resident, had also closed off the home’s elaborate wooden staircase, removing the solid wood balustrades in the process.
Though Sterley and her father didn’t have the budget to restore the staircase, they did unearth the home’s original fir flooring. They added crown molding and embellished the door trim with rosette corners.
They also updated the bathrooms and installed a contemporary kitchen with slab granite, cherry cabinets and flooring, track lighting and a double-size stainless steel refrigerator-freezer unit.
After a tree fell on the house in a storm, they added a new roof and revamped the second story, too.
“It’s the best of the old and the best of the new,” Sterley said.
One of Sterley’s favorite parts of the house is the floral and abstract patterned linoleum floors in two of the upstairs bedrooms, possibly installed in a 1920s remodeling project.
“I just love the character of it,” she said.
If all that weren’t enough to make the Dubuque House interesting, there is something else: Next door, directly east of it, sits another house that is actually a part of the original property.
Though it bears little resemblance to the Dubuque House, it was at one time connected on both floors. It was thought to have contained the home’s summer kitchen and additional bedrooms.
In 1913, prominent Snohomish architect N.P. Hansen bought the lot next door along with the summer kitchen portion of the house and separated the two structures. Hansen, according to Dubuque family records, lived in that part of the home with his family until about 1940.
Sterley enjoys living in an old house with so many stories to tell.
“It’s so fun,” she said. “It’s such a pleasure.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com
Take the tour
What: The Snohomish Historical Society, celebrating its 40th anniversary, presents its 38th annual home tour, featuring 10 historic properties. Visitors can tour a variety of residential and mixed-use homes, including the Dubuque House, a reconstruction of a 1940s train depot, a former dairy farm homestead, a dramatically restored commercial building, and the society’s headquarters, the Blackman House Museum.
When: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Snohomish
Cost: Tickets are $15 or $12 for ages 62 and older and society members. Buy them on Saturday and Sunday at Joyworks, Kusler’s, McDaniel’s Do-It Center or the Blackman House Museum, all in Snohomish. Advance will-call tickets are available through Friday only at www.blackmanhouse.org for a discounted rate of $10. Call 360-568-5235 for advance group tickets for $10.
Information: See pictures of the homes and find more tour details at www.blackmanhouse.org.
That’s partly why the historic Dubuque House, open to the public Sunday as part of the Snohomish Historical Society’s 38th annual tour, is so unusual.
Built in 1888, it features the architectural style’s tall, narrow windows, low-pitched roof and eaves decorated with intricate brackets.
Unlike many turn-of-the-century homes cluttered with servants’ staircases and small, divided rooms, its spaces are large, open and flowing.
For Lori Sterley, who grew up in Snohomish and wanted to move back, it was all too enchanting to pass up.
In 2003, she bought the house, which sits on busy Avenue D in the heart of Snohomish, with her father, Ralph Sterley.
She spent the next few years remodeling, adding modern as well as historically appropriate touches throughout its 2,000 square feet with help from her father, now 84.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she said, walking around the home through lush landscaping. “It’s a pretty amazing house.”
Sterley’s home is named for its most prominent owners, longtime residents Stanley and Ruth Dubuque.
The Dubuques purchased the home from Ruth Dubuque’s mother, Ruth Brodigan in 1940, and lived there until their deaths. Ruth Dubuque died in 1984. Stanley Dubuque, who was a longtime county auditor, died in 2002.
The Dubuques were active members in the early days of the Snohomish Historical Society, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Society president Warner Blake said putting the Dubuque home on the tour not only honors the Sterleys’ investments in the old home but also the Dubuques’ contributions to the society.
“Without people like Ruth and Stan, there wouldn’t be a historic district,” Blake said of the couple, who helped put part of Snohomish on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. “The Dubuques were right there from the beginning.”
Indeed, the family goes back way back.
Stanley Dubuque’s grandfather came to Snohomish in 1868 and helped establish a small town north of Snohomish called Dubuque, according to society records. Today only Dubuque Road remains of the short-lived settlement.
Sterley, whose extensive collection of antiques complements the architecture of the Dubuque home, said she can feel the care the family took in maintaining their Snohomish property.
“The Dubuques loved their house with a passion,” she said. “It was immaculate.”
That doesn’t mean it didn’t need work, of course, said Sterley, 48.
The Dubuques had remodeled the home with 1970s interiors, including green carpeting and paneling. They, or perhaps a previous resident, had also closed off the home’s elaborate wooden staircase, removing the solid wood balustrades in the process.
Though Sterley and her father didn’t have the budget to restore the staircase, they did unearth the home’s original fir flooring. They added crown molding and embellished the door trim with rosette corners.
They also updated the bathrooms and installed a contemporary kitchen with slab granite, cherry cabinets and flooring, track lighting and a double-size stainless steel refrigerator-freezer unit.
After a tree fell on the house in a storm, they added a new roof and revamped the second story, too.
“It’s the best of the old and the best of the new,” Sterley said.
One of Sterley’s favorite parts of the house is the floral and abstract patterned linoleum floors in two of the upstairs bedrooms, possibly installed in a 1920s remodeling project.
“I just love the character of it,” she said.
If all that weren’t enough to make the Dubuque House interesting, there is something else: Next door, directly east of it, sits another house that is actually a part of the original property.
Though it bears little resemblance to the Dubuque House, it was at one time connected on both floors. It was thought to have contained the home’s summer kitchen and additional bedrooms.
In 1913, prominent Snohomish architect N.P. Hansen bought the lot next door along with the summer kitchen portion of the house and separated the two structures. Hansen, according to Dubuque family records, lived in that part of the home with his family until about 1940.
Sterley enjoys living in an old house with so many stories to tell.
“It’s so fun,” she said. “It’s such a pleasure.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com
Take the tour
What: The Snohomish Historical Society, celebrating its 40th anniversary, presents its 38th annual home tour, featuring 10 historic properties. Visitors can tour a variety of residential and mixed-use homes, including the Dubuque House, a reconstruction of a 1940s train depot, a former dairy farm homestead, a dramatically restored commercial building, and the society’s headquarters, the Blackman House Museum.
When: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Snohomish
Cost: Tickets are $15 or $12 for ages 62 and older and society members. Buy them on Saturday and Sunday at Joyworks, Kusler’s, McDaniel’s Do-It Center or the Blackman House Museum, all in Snohomish. Advance will-call tickets are available through Friday only at www.blackmanhouse.org for a discounted rate of $10. Call 360-568-5235 for advance group tickets for $10.
Information: See pictures of the homes and find more tour details at www.blackmanhouse.org.
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