For Sale: One Icon

  • Brian Kelly / Herald Writer
  • Saturday, October 6, 2001 9:00pm
  • Business

S.A. Thompson’s home was built in the early 1900s and has been a Stanwood landmark since then

By Brian Kelly

Herald Writer

They’re unmistakable icons, local landmarks with deep roots in the community.

Pivotal properties that help define a town; homes heavy with history or colored with character.

And sometimes they’re for sale.

That’s now the case for the Stanwood House, a stately turn-of-the-century home near the heart of old West Stanwood that was built just a generation after D.O. Pearson opened the first store in what was then called Centerville.

The home was built by S. A. Thompson, a clerk who took over the Irvine General Store — Pearson’s chief competition back in Stanwood’s pioneer days — sometime between 1900 and 1908.

Thompson’s home outlasted his store, which was remodeled numerous times but burned down in the late 1970s. The property has passed through numerous owners since Thompson passed away in 1937.

Now it’s on the block again, this time for $299,000.

"It has that wonderful ambiance. It’s got that feeling that people still are so drawn to," said Karen Harter, a real estate agent representing the owners. "Everybody goes: ‘Ooooh, wouldn’t it be cool to own that.’ "

The building has features above and beyond a typical home; hardwood floors, high ceilings, a two-sided fireplace, covered porches, French doors that lead into a sun room, period light fixtures and paned windows. There are three bedrooms; two upstairs that have their own bathrooms.

"The charm is what most people talk about. I’ve had several people just fall in love with it.

"The romance kind of goes away when they start looking at their own checkbook," Harter added.

The home’s construction remains sound, she said.

"All it takes is some cosmetics. Somebody who’s got the energy and knows how to work a paintbrush could really make this place just charming. What it needs is someone to get in there, buff the hardwood floors, paint and finish off some unfinished rooms."

The home has garnered much interest since it’s been on the market. And not just from people looking for a unique historic home to live in.

"Several of the businesses in town have come to see it and have been very serious. There is such a demand for commercial space in Stanwood," Harter said.

But that’s been a double-edged sword. The place is too big for smaller businesses that are presently cramped but don’t need the sizeable space of the Stanwood House.

Others have said the home would be perfect for a gift shop on one end, in the sun room, with a tea room or coffee shop on the other.

Harter envisions the home being turned into a business downstairs, with living quarters upstairs, or several businesses downstairs, with the upstairs — which has its own private entrance — devoted to office use.

But the possibilities haven’t stopped there. "A church has looked at it with the thought of an extension of their facilities," Harter said.

Indeed, there is room to spread out. The home has approximately 2,556 square feet.

Space, and plenty of it, is a common element in many community-icon type properties, including the home of Bill Schlicker and Toni Makinaw. They bought a turn-of-the-century church in Startup about 11 years ago from a Baptist church that was moving to Sultan.

The couple converted the building, instantly recognizable to travelers on U.S. 2 by its huge white steeple, into a home and art gallery/frame shop.

"It was instant space. We skateboarded in the front room," Makinaw said.

Makinaw, a New York City native, was accustomed to living in out-of-the-ordinary places. She once lived for eight years in tents in an Indian camp in Canada.

The church was built between 1901 and 1906, in the days when Startup was an old mining town and there were seven churches and seven saloons.

The building now has five bedrooms, two bathrooms, vaulted ceilings, a library and a self-contained apartment that would work well as a mother-in-law unit. The property is actually two lots, with a lapidary shop toward the rear.

The asking price for it all is $700,000.

"It’s very unique. It’s certainly residential, and it’s commercial," said Janet Hite, a real estate agent who works for the sellers.

Properties like the Startup church appeal on several levels.

"The quality and the design are always fascinating," said Hite, who has also sold century-old homes in Everett.

Younger buyers especially seem to appreciate the craftsman quality of historic homes and their link to years’ past, she said.

Many people have expressed interest in the church, including others who have eyed the property for a commercial/residential use, as well as some church groups who need a bigger facility.

"It’s great, it’s just a wonderful space," Makinaw said. And she said it’s been easy to give friends directions to the couple’s home.

"I say it’s the house with the steeple."

You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.

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