57 years of love went into historic Everett home

Victoria Ahmann married at age 18 and moved into a 24-by-24-foot beach house.

So when she and her husband, Grover, planned their next home, they wanted elbowroom.

“Let’s make it big, even if we have no furniture to put in it,” she remembers thinking.

Make it big they did. In 1949 they started work on a home that when completed would include 6,000-square-feet of living space. At the time, the average house was a sixth that size. The house would become a north Everett landmark, and not simply because of its roomy interior. On a block lined mainly with ranch-style homes, the couple’s coral, rustic Northwest home stands out as an original.

“It’s really remarkable,” said David Dilgard, an Everett historian familiar with local architecture. “It really is one of a kind. I don’t think its sister ship is anywhere in Everett.”

The home, one of 10 on this Saturday’s Historic Everett Home Tour, incorporates architectural elements from other styles but does so in a complete departure from the norm, Dilgard said. For instance, the roof line, which sweeps down over the front entrance to form a covered porch, is reminiscent of a Craftsman bungalow. So, too, are the knee braces under the eaves. But there’s nothing Craftsman about the proportion or scale, he said.

The Ahmanns likely thought about the interior of the home first and then let those spaces dictate the outside of the home, something a trained architect likely wouldn’t have done. Dilgard said that’s just what makes this home interesting to look at. He finds the overall effect pleasing.

“That’s what’s remarkable,” he said. “You’re looking at someone else’s personal vision. It’s more like looking at a painting. Even if they aren’t trained painters, you can see the person’s personality. It’s an honest expression.”

Unlike the much older historic homes in the area, the original owner still lives in this one. Victoria Ahmann has lived here for 57 years. She and her late husband wanted an open family room, wide hallways and, on the advice of her parents, a downstairs bedroom and full bath. The home would include four bedrooms and two baths in total, all of them large and spacious even by today’s standards. A full basement below the house was the perfect spot for New Year’s Eve parties and Grover’s shop.

The home includes an abundance of exposed wood: paneling, beamed ceilings, handsome cabinets made of yellow cedar, and planked floors. Victoria Ahmann had an inside line to a local mill.

Her grandfather, George Bergstrom, came to the area as a timber agent for the Minneapolis Timber Co. He made a deal with Everett greats Olaf and David Carlson to form CB Lumber and Shingle. Her father would also eventually work for the mill.

The wood for the home came from the company, including the kitchen cabinets, made from a stand of Alaskan yellow cedar that didn’t sell well at the mill. Much of the millwork in the home was made from seconds from the mill.

The couple built much of this home themselves, although they had help from a local contractor. Ahmann remembers hours spent staining wood and hammering pegs into the wood floors. Husband Grover, a former World War II pilot, was good with his hands.

Steve Ahmann, the couple’s youngest son, described his parents as the perfect marriage of right brain and left brain, something that’s reflected in the home’s character. His mother was interested in color, pattern and texture. His father excelled at form, fit and function.

The house has attracted attention since the beginning. Victoria Ahmann remembers people stopping and staring when they were building. One person asked if they were building the north-end grange. Later, when she decided to paint the home coral, people started referring to her home as pumpkin. She bristled at the comment and placed a pumpkin next to the door to prove otherwise.

In many ways, the home was ahead of its time. Family rooms were just coming into vogue, and this house not only has one, it has one that extends into the kitchen like a contemporary great room. The room, with its cozy bricked fireplace and exposed ceiling beams, remains the heart of the home. She hired a landscape architect to design a native plant garden decades before that became a trend.

Grover and Victoria Ahmann moved into the home just before the birth of their oldest son. They would have two more sons. A peek into the closets is a step back in time. In Steve’s bedroom visitors can still see his childhood baseball mitt and Mickey Mouse ears. In the full basement, Victoria Ahmann still owns her 1950s blue Amana freezer.

The family has continued to update the home, but visitors will find plenty of midcentury touches, including most of the original lighting fixtures and furniture built by her grandfather.

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com