Couple’s 1989 dream home is today’s Pride of the Neighborhood

This story begins in 1989. It could have ended so differently for the couple, who at the time were living in Lake Stevens and expecting their first child.

Their lease was ending. Their hunt for a new home had been unsuccessful. “We had shopped and shopped,” Dan Cardenas said.

Then one Sunday morning, he saw a newspaper ad for a house for sale in downtown Everett. He went over to take a look.

“All the homes we had seen were kind of field trips through hell,” Cardenas said.

To his surprise, the house, on Maple Street, was beyond his expectations.

He quickly drove home to get his wife, Melissa Barrett, so she could take a look.

They scraped together the money to buy it. When they came home from the hospital after the birth of their first child, they entered a dwelling with practically no furniture, he said.

Nearly three decades later, their mocha brown American Foursquare-style home with white-and-blue trim in the Riverside neighborhood has been selected for a Monte Cristo Pride of the Neighborhood award.

The awards are given each year to property owners whose home and yard maintenance contribute to the character of the city’s neighborhoods.

It was one of 57 homes and businesses recognized from neighborhoods throughout the city during ceremonies Thursday at the Historic Everett Theatre. The city launched the program in 1994. This year, for the first time, it was run by volunteers.

Cardenas learned from the grandson of the house’s builder that it was constructed in 1898.

“It’s amazing,” he said.

Another winner, this one in the Port Gardner neighborhood, is home to Steven McCormick and Bob McNally. It’s often known as the place with an American flag flying from a 40-foot tall flagpole.

People passing by their home tend to comment on that as much as the 1908 two-story Craftsman home, McCormick said.

He and McNally moved in almost three years ago. McCormick said he didn’t even wait to start unpacking their moving boxes before he started stripping the carpet.

The carpet had been hiding the home’s wood floors throughout the interior.

One of the most recent additions, added to the property this summer, was a custom cedar fence, painted white.

“I love being here,” McCormick said.

In addition, the Marian Krell Award, which honors a prior Monte Cristo award recipient who has excelled in the maintenance of their property over several years, was awarded to Francisca and Amado Aldos of the Cascade View neighborhood. They were Monte Cristo award winners in 2004.

Pride of the Neighborhood winners

Ranna and Todd Pullman, Bayside

Elizabeth Mullin, Bayside

Patsy and Steve Grey, Boulevard Bluffs

Scott and Melanie Requa, Cascade View

Lloyd Siats, Cascade View

Scott Ryan, Delta

Noel VanSpoor, Delta

Alan Pratt, Delta

Kristie Rollins and Lavonne Sunde, Evergreen

Arlie and Connie Cooper, Glacier View

Felipe Solterro-Hernandez, Holly

Jon and Teri Crosby, Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven

Terry and David Potter, Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven

Philip Stephens, Northwest

William and Paula McCulloch, Northwest

David and Michelle Choe, Pinehurst

Nikki Oku, Port Gardner

Mark and Diane Marriott, Port Gardner

Blane and Donna O’Brien, Riverside

Linda Wiens, Riverside

Gary and Kathleen Higgins, Twin Creeks

Margarita and Jon Shanks, Twin Creeks

Denver and Denice Hicks, Valley View

Betty Patterson, View Ridge-Madison

Mark and Traci Carter, View Ridge-Madison

Rejuvenation and Transformation winners

Condominium project, multiple owners, Bayside

Rucker II LLC, Bayside

Timothy Tobin, Bayside

John and Erica Swenso, Boulevard Bluffs

Emily Wicks, Delta

Angelito and Mary Ann Torres, Evergreen

Jonathan Andy and Josephina Aldos, Evergreen

Esther Silver, Holly

Penny and Jeff Kellam, Holly

Ryan and Callie Wilke, Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven

Denise and Jeff Blackwell, Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven

Michael and Lisa Hartman, Lowell

Margaret Smith, Lowell

David and Bella Paris, Northwest

Gary and Ardie McLean, Northwest

Maureen and Bob Stohl, Northwest

Tim and Jennifer Cummer, Northwest

Francisco and Courtney Rivera, Port Gardner

Geoff and Susan Tate, Riverside

April Garrett, Riverside

Julie Dawson, View Ridge-Madison

Timothy Catrina and Kayla Cort, View Ridge-Madison

Neighborhood Friendly Businesses winners

The Independent Beer Bar, Bayside

Everett Vacuum Sales and Service, Bayside

Cedar Valley Counseling, Lowell

The Clough Mansion Condominium, Northwest

C&M Heating, Delta

Toyer, Dietrich & Associates, Port Gardner

The Walden Apartments, Holly