If Olaf Carlson came home to his Rucker Avenue foursquare, he might wonder who’s been eating at his dining room table, who’s been sitting in his chair and who’s been sleeping in his bed.
That would be Dr. Bob Fink, a 58-year-old psychiatrist and filmmaker.
He lives in the five-bedroom Everett home built a century ago for Swedish immigrant Olaf Carlson and his family. Many of the original furnishings, including wallpaper, rugs and furniture, remain. Some of the curtains have hung on the same windows since before World War I. They’re cleaner and aging better than you’d expect.
In fact, if it weren’t for the contemporary artwork, the designer kitchen and a few other modern accouterments, this home would look just about the same as it did a century ago.
The call system to ring for the maid still works, and the separate stairway for serving the family discreetly is there too. So are the early light fixtures and switches, the sweeping staircase, the working radiators, the ornate fireplace, the coved ceilings. Fink uses the laundry chute daily and steps on the same woven rugs Olaf Carlson’s family did a century ago. He sleeps in Olaf Carlson’s carved wooden bed and hangs his clothes in the matching wardrobe.
The public can see this home and nine other historic homes in Everett Saturday as part of Historic Everett’s annual tour. The tour includes the home of Helen Jackson, the widow of Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, as well as two homes Historic Everett purchased and hopes to restore.
Fink’s home is a classic example of the American foursquare architectural style, said Snohomish County historian David Dilgard. While Dilgard says the style of the home isn’t “stylistically groundbreaking,” the fact that the home is largely intact is noteworthy. Many older Everett homes of this size were carved into apartments or duplexes during the Depression and after. The many original furnishings and finishes are even rarer, Dilgard said.
“Almost certainly those things usually get scattered,” he said.
The home’s original owner, Olaf Carlson, started Carlson Brothers Shingle Co. at the 14th Street dock in 1907, according to Historic Everett. The firm grew and became C-B Shingle Co., and later, the Super Shingle Mill. By 1932, Carlson was president of both Port Gardner Investment Co. and Super Shingle Co. From the second floor balcony of his Rucker Avenue home, Carlson could survey his business enterprises below.
Drawn to older homes, Fink purchased the classic foursquare in 1992. The home hadn’t changed much, but the changes that had been made didn’t fit the style of the home. The worst were walls painted flesh pink, lots of shag carpet and yellow cedar shake siding that made the house look, as Fink describes it, like a giant block of butter.
Out went the carpet. Up went some new paint. Restoring the home’s original siding proved more painful. A $100,000 bid to restore the siding, just about half of what Fink paid for the home, convinced him he ought to do the work himself.
He removed the shingles, filled nail holes and heat-gunned the paint away, burning himself occasionally as he worked. Missing scrollwork was replaced and the siding was finished with a five-color paint job. At times Fink had help from friends, family and a carpenter. But he estimated he spent eight hours a day everyday on the project for nine months.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve decided to do something without any concept of what I was doing,” Fink said. “It takes me longer, and I learn a lot.”
When it came time to remodel the kitchen, he hired professionals and the result is a room with modern functionality and a historic feel.
Fink said he feels a responsibility to care for the home, as if it had a life of its own. However, the home isn’t a museum piece; he has filled it with contemporary artwork and a local artist painted a trompe l’oeil bookshelf in the parlor. Fink imparted a little more history to the house, producing an award-winning documentary in a finished workspace in the basement.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
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