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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Welcome Homes Palouse Industries’ Seventh Annual Country Home Tour Offers The Perfect Excuse For A Country Drive

The gently undulating Palouse wheatland south of Spokane radiates a special magic this time of year, reason enough for motorists to slow down, take a detour and appreciate the region’s relaxed, post-harvest pace.

Sunday, though, there’s another excuse to pack a picnic basket, grab a few vintage tapes and dust off the bird-watching binoculars: Palouse Industries’ seventh annual Country Home Tour.

Five private residences in Rosalia, St. John and Pine City (a quiet burg halfway between) will open their doors to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per person, $25 for families, and all proceeds go to help Whitman County children with special needs and adults with disabilities.

The most intriguing stop on this year’s self-guided tour is Richard and Pam Holmes’ landmark Victorian home in St. John. Built in 1906 by the prosperous Gaines family, the seven-bedroom residence later served as a boarding house before being extensively remodeled in the 1950s.

An electrical fire in 1994 severely damaged the first floor, but the home’s exterior and structural integrity survived. Since then, the interior has been redone and now has an elegant, contemporary ambiance.

But the outside still exudes turn-of-the-century genteel charm, with its ornate wrap-around porch, curved balcony and gable flourishes.

Upon entry, visitors encounter the warm wood paneling and elaborate bannister of the original stairway, which was painstakingly restored after the fire and now stands out in contrast to the home’s mostly white decor.

The main living space doubles as a music room, and includes both a Steinway baby grand and an upright piano. The walls are decorated with Italian Renaissance prints.

The home’s large, modern kitchen invites culinary adventures. The reconfigured living quarters include five bedrooms upstairs, and a TV/ exercise room in the basement.

Richard, a physician, enjoys hearing his patients recount memories of visiting the home - even living in it - prior to his family’s purchase of it in 1989.

Dean and Carol Denny’s home at 818 S. Whitman in Rosalia wasn’t damaged by fire, but instead by neglect, along with the misguided enthusiasm of would-be remodelers.

By the time the Dennys bought the home in 1992, the first-floor walls had been stripped down to studs, the foundation was collapsing and the roof needed repair.

Dean thought he’d retired earlier that year - actually he just traded a career that paid for one that didn’t.

“Everything cost more than we expected,” he recalled earlier this week. “Siding was $11,000 … windows and insulation were $7,000 … the roof and foundation were another $4,500. It all adds up. And if you had to figure your own labor, the cost would really be prohibitive.”

Probably, but there’s no mistaking the pride Dean takes in showing visitors what he’s accomplished during the past four years, working out of his basement woodshop.

Dean particularly delights in the 98-year-old home’s formal stairway, which he’s embellished with ornamental trim and new spindles. He also recreated the elaborate gable gingerbread, and custom-cut the scalloped and diamond-tailed porch roof shingles.

Still on his to-do list is the kitchen, which he estimates will take another year.

Dean admits experiencing moments of doubt during the remodeling project, “but you get to the point of no return, where you’ve got to finish it or lose your shirt.”

He realizes, though, that a four-bedroom home is more space than he and Carol need. So maybe he’s not joking when he says, “If someone wants it for a bed and breakfast, I’ll sell it to them.”

Other stops on this year’s Country Home Tour include:

Hester Wyer’s home at 919 S. Josephine in Rosalia. Hester has lived here 50 years (although for convenience sake she did relocate her bedroom downstairs in what was once the first-floor billiards room).

The home’s front entry is dark, which may account for why the original wallpaper has survived almost a century.

Elsewhere, Hester has lovingly accumulated memorabilia, from an Edison phonograph to an ancient-looking encyclopedia set in its original bookshelf. And no one is more qualified - or more gracious - at explaining each item’s significance.

One block south is a handsome 1905 farmhouse where “Doc” Ogden, Rosalia’s dentist at the time, lived with his family for more than five decades.

A bunkhouse and root cellar flank the home, and the spacious lot is framed by the original wrought-iron fence.

Ten miles southwest of Rosalia, in Pine City, the tour stops at the brick home that banker Henry Smith built for his bride, Martha Starkey, in 1936. The five-acre grounds include a two-story kit barn dating from the same period.

The distance from Rosalia to St. John, by way of Pine City, is 19 miles along a winding but well-maintained road. Rosalia is 33 miles south of Spokane on U.S. Highway 195.

Tour tickets may be purchased at any of the five homes. For more information, contact Palouse Industries at (509) 332-6561.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color photos Map: Country Home Tour