Heather and Michael Wallace, owners of the Milk House Coffee Co. on Thursday in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Heather and Michael Wallace, owners of the Milk House Coffee Co. on Thursday in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

There’s a cuppa new brew at former home of Walt’s Milk House

Everett couple’s Milk House Coffee Co. is opening where Snohomish dairyman once sold local products.

A half-gallon bottle sits on the counter at the Milk House Coffee Co. That glass container is a mid-century collector’s item, a reminder of an earlier Everett, with red letters spelling out “Walt’s Milk House” and “Farm Fresh Daily.”

Entering the new coffeehouse, where the interior paint color is light mocha, will for some folks be a return to a long-ago destination. Starting in 1960, customers came to Walt’s Milk House, at 4405 Rucker Ave., to buy milk produced at Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer’s Snohomish area farm — and to return those heavy bottles.

“I feel like I know it, so many people have shared their memories of it,” said Heather Wallace. She and her husband, Michael Wallace, bought the old Walt’s Milk House building and will officially open their cafe Monday.

The Milk House Coffee Co. is bringing a new life along with locally produced coffee and goodies to a building that, after Walt’s Milk House closed in the early 1990s, housed a number of businesses. Michael Wallace said they bought the building in 2020 from Kevin Dahl, whose International Stylists, Inc., has operated Third Dimension Salons. Previous businesses there included a deli and a Tupperware distribution center.

Nostalgia for Walt’s Milk House surfaced as the Wallaces worked on renovations. The family of Kirke Sievers, a longtime Snohomish County treasurer who died in 2019, brought the couple vintage Walt’s Milk House bottles, and others have given memorabilia to use as decor.

A sign reading “Daydream Believer” sits on display Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

A sign reading “Daydream Believer” sits on display Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

In October, a blog post on Everett’s Lamoureux Real Estate website looked back on Walt’s Milk House, touting its “legendary chocolate milk.” It included an ad for the grand opening, April 29-30, 1960, with a pitch for “Free! All the Milk You Can Drink!” that weekend.

The new shop’s owners don’t have photos of Walt’s Milk House, or of the man for which it was named.

“With all the farming, nobody took time to take any pictures. We were so busy,” said Dan Bartelheimer, 77, son of the late Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer. “I delivered many a truckload of milk,” he said, recalling that along with Walt’s Milk House his family operated a retail store in Mountlake Terrace and sold milk directly from the farm.

Walt Bartelheimer died in 1985, and his widow died in 2000.

Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo)
Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo)
Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo)

Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo) Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo) Walter and Ruth Bartelheimer, Snohomish area dairy farmers, operated Walt’s Milk House for many years. They had milk stores in Everett and Mountlake Terrace. (Contributed photo)

Dan Bartelheimer, president of the Snohomish County Farm Bureau, now runs Sno-Valley Farms with his son, Peter Bartelheimer. His extended family’s agricultural history was highlighted in 2018. Walter’s cousin, dairyman Dale Bartelheimer and his family members were named Snohomish County’s Centennial Farm Family. Dale Bartelheimer died in 2019.

Michael Wallace, 47, and his 45-year-old wife grew up on south Whidbey Island. Heather Wallace doesn’t recall Walt’s Milk House, but has memories of going to the nearby Totem restaurant.

The couple, who’ve lived in Everett about 18 years, are bringing their own family history to the Milk House Coffee Co., where some custom woodwork was created by Michael’s father. “My dad milled this,” he said of a wooden bar along one window where patrons will be able to plug in laptops.

Customers will see counters made from bowling alley lanes salvaged 30 years ago in Tacoma. One beam in the cafe was crafted from a Douglas fir blown down in a storm last year on Michael’s parents’ Whidbey property.

Just as Walt’s Milk House brought farm-fresh dairy products to Everett, the Wallaces will provide customers with local goodness.

Bags of Everett roasted coffee from Velton’s Coffee Roasting Co. are displayed on the counters Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Bags of Everett roasted coffee from Velton’s Coffee Roasting Co. are displayed on the counters Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Their coffee supplier is Velton’s Coffee Roasting Company. Velton Ross is a small-batch roaster in Everett’s Lowell neighborhood. The Whidbey Island Bagel Factory will ferry its wares each day, Heather said. Rabbit’s Pantry Teas in Marysville and Black Scottie Chai from Woodinville are also among the coffee shop’s purveyors.

Those with memories of Everett’s culinary past may remember Pavé Bakery on Colby Avenue, with its master baker Lil Miller. Before the bakery, which closed a decade ago, Miller was an acclaimed chef at a Hewitt Avenue restaurant also called Pavé. On Thursday, in the Milk House Coffee Co. kitchen, Miller was back to baking, coaxed from retirement to create tempting lemon-poppy-seed cookies, scones and other treats for the new shop.

Heather and Michael Wallace, who have three teenagers at Everett High School, had lots to learn in their new endeavor. For coffee expertise, they turned to a mentor, Maxwell Mooney. A nationally ranked barista, Mooney is the creator of Narrative Coffee near the courthouse campus in downtown Everett.

Heather and Michael Wallace make cappuccinos Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Heather and Michael Wallace make cappuccinos Thursday at Milk House Coffee Co. in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

The year 2020 was a cup-half-empty time for many, including the Wallaces. Michael, a career millwright, lost his job. They’re now employing more than 10 people at the Milk House Coffee Co., which opened with limited hours last week. The real beginning comes Monday, when doors — and a drive-thru — will open at 6 a.m.

“When life gives you lemons, we’ll make lattes,” Michael Wallace said.

Julie Muhlstein: jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com

Milk House Coffee Co.

The Milk House Coffee Co. opens Monday at 4405 Rucker Ave., Everett. Hours are 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Information: www.milkhousecoffee.com/

Talk to us

More in Local News

Dominic Wilson looks at his mother while she addresses the court during his sentencing at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Grief remains after sentencing of Marysville teen’s killers

Dominic Wilson must serve 17½ years in prison, while his accomplice Morzae Roberts was given a sentence of four years.

The Washington State University Everett campus on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
WSU ends search to buy land for future branch campus in Everett

The university had $10M to spend. It tried for four years but couldn’t close deals with Everett’s housing authority or the city.

Former Opus Bank/Cascade Bank building in downtown Everett on Thursday, March 16, 2023 in Everett, Washington. It is proposed as the new home of Economic Alliance Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Economic Alliance asks Everett for $300K to move downtown

The countywide chamber of commerce and economic development organization also would reform the Everett chamber.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Mountlake Terrace in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Mountlake Terrace leaders weighing federal ARPA fund options

Bathrooms, body cameras, generators, radios, roadwork, roof replacement, sidewalks, trails and more loom for the $4.5 million.

Vehicles on Soper Hill Road wait in line to make unprotected left turns onto Highway 9 northbound and southbound during the evening commute Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Lake Stevens development prompts Highway 9 signal change soon

Turning left from Soper Hill Road can be a long wait now. Flashing yellow turn signals could help with more traffic.

NO CAPTION NECESSARY: Logo for the Cornfield Report by Jerry Cornfield. 20200112
Building ballparks, rewriting ferry rules, recognizing Chinese-Americans

It’s Day 71. Here’s what’s happening in the 2023 session of the Washington Legislature

Logo for news use featuring Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington. 220118
Head-on crash on south Whidbey Island hospitalizes 3 people

Alcohol or drugs were involved, per the Washington State Patrol. Two victims are Lake Forest Park teens.

Marysville
Marysville man dies after motorcycle crash on Ingraham Boulevard

The man, 58, was heading east when he lost control in the single-vehicle crash, according to police.

Builders work on the Four Corners Apartments on Beverly Lane near Evergreen and 79th Place SE on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. DevCo, the real estate company building the affordable housing, is receiving a $1 million grant from the city of Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
As Washington rents go up, up, up, the air gets thin for tenants

Hal Zack’s rent has tripled, and he’s scared he’ll be homeless soon. How did we get here? And what is the state doing now?

Most Read