‘Historic Homes of Everett’ calendar benefits preservation

It’s a 116-year-old beauty with four fireplaces, original windows, gorgeous hardwood floors and a storied past. The featured house on the 2017 Historic Everett calendar, a stately presence on Rucker Avenue, was once the scene of a tragedy and later the home of a beloved music teacher.

“Historic Homes of Everett” is the nonprofit preservation group’s 12th annual calendar. Sales of the 2017 calendar will support Historic Everett’s educational programs and local preservation efforts.

Among the calendar’s dozen early 20th century showplaces is the massive pale-green home with the arched entryway at 2507 Rucker Ave. An image of the house illustrates the cover and the month of October. Now owned by Brendan and Sarah Trout, the house was built in 1900 for American National Bank worker Shepard Bucey and his young family. By 1902, it was the scene of a notorious act that garnered national attention.

Bucey’s wife killed her husband, their 4-year-old son and herself “in a fit of insanity,” according to an account published April 10, 1902, in the Los Angeles Herald and other newspapers. When help arrived at the house, the 1902 article said, “the clenched hand of Mrs. Bucey retained the smoking revolver.”

Historic Everett’s $20 calendar includes a story of the shooting, along with more pleasant descriptions of later owners and other wonderful old homes.

The late Gene Nastri, a founding Everett Symphony Orchestra member who taught strings in Everett schools for 27 years, owned the calendar cover house in the 1960s and ’70s. It was then owned for decades by Fay Garrett, formerly Fay Medema, before the Trouts bought it this year.

It’s the oldest house featured in the calendar, which has homes dating from 1900 to a 1937 brick house at 921 Rucker Ave. Its owners, Dennis and Joy Schaffert, call it “the Rucker Cottage” — a nod to Everett’s notable Rucker Mansion.

Andrea Tucker has been Historic Everett president, but is stepping down to serve on the nonprofit’s board as David Chrisman takes on the leadership role. Chrisman is the calendar’s graphic designer. Tucker said Tuesday that she is joining the Everett Historical Commission, an appointed volunteer group that advises the city on issues of history.

To decide on a calendar theme, Tucker said Historic Everett starts in January with a retreat. Group leaders meet in a back room at Buck’s American Cafe — which is housed in a 1901 Hewitt Avenue building — to discuss possible topics. “This year, one person suggested railroads,” Tucker said.

In recent years, themes have included “Everett’s First Schools,” “Favorite Places” (with Everett High School on the calendar cover), “The Architecture of August Heide” (with the original Snohomish County Courthouse on the cover), “Historic Everett Churches,” “Saloons and Brothels,” “Everett Rolls into the Auto Age” and “Aviation in Everett.”

Many homes on the calendar have been on Historic Everett’s tours in years past, Tucker said. “What we looked for were different styles of architecture,” she said. Everett has so many stunning older homes, “we could do three or four more calendars.”

Tucker, who works in real estate with John L. Scott in Everett, said many young buyers are choosing older homes in the city’s north end. “A lot of younger people who buy here purchase for the downtown. It’s cool to walk to the restaurants and coffee shops,” Tucker said. She hopes the city saves the vintage buildings still standing in its core.

One calendar detail would be an impossible dream for today’s buyers. The house illustrating the December page, at 1816 Oakes Ave., belongs to Clinton Seal, an Historic Everett board member. The first owner of Seal’s 1918 Craftsman-style house was Carlie Blakely.

And that first sale price? It was $900.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Historic calendar

Historic Everett’s 2017 calendar, “Historic Homes of Everett,” is available for $20 at these Everett businesses: J. Matheson Gifts, 2615 Colby Ave.; Lamoureux Real Estate, 1904 Wetmore Ave.; Peak Health & Fitness, 2902 Rucker Ave.; Home Inspirations, 1502 Hewitt Ave.; and Wicked Cellars, 2616 Colby Ave. Proceeds support the nonprofit’s educational programs and preservation efforts.