A Piece Of History Owners Of Waverly Place Recognized For Efforts In Historic Preservation
It was love at first sight.
The moment Marge Arndt stepped inside the battered Queen Anne overlooking Corbin Park, she knew it was the place she and her daughter had envisioned.
Woodwork was missing; hardwood floors were painted over. The downstairs bathroom was so cold and barren, they simply called it “the outhouse.”
Eleven years later, Waverly Place Bed and Breakfast is a showplace. Guests ooh and ahh over the gleaming woodwork, the cozy window seats and warm fire.
Last weekend, Waverly Place owners Marge and Tammy Arndt and Lou Dolan were recognized by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation for restoring the home.
“The people who lived here before us always respected this house,” said Tammy Arndt. “We want to preserve it so it can become a family home again someday.”
The 1902 home was the first house built on Corbin Park.
The mother-daughter team discovered the house in 1986, falling instantly in love.
Marge Arndt saw it advertised in the newspaper and called her daughter to go look at it with her.
“We’ll take it,” Marge Arndt said after a quick tour.
“I didn’t even look at the back yard,” she recalled.
Much of the home’s original woodwork, beaded pillars, hardware, and chandeliers were still in the house - some of it hidden in the attic.
During the next 11 years, they renovated every corner of the home “from dungeon to attic.”
Dolan, Tammy Arndt’s husband, took care of the renovations himself, from sanding and staining slivered window and door moldings, to creating an entirely new sitting room and bathroom in the attic.
There are four bedrooms, including a luxurious suite that starts on the second floor and flows up to the third.
Corbin Park is a Local Historic District, which restricts changes to the outside of historic homes.
The original attic was large, with several small windows. However, the Landmarks Commission approved the Arndt’s plan to add a dormer to the south roof of the house, as long as it blended with the original home, but was distinct enough that future researchers would know it was added at a later date.
The finished room is light and spacious. Window seats, nooks and the angled roof provide a cozy setting.
“This is a good room to be in on a rainy day with a book,” said Dolan.
One of the guest rooms is named for Harry J. Skinner, the original owner. Skinner was a superintendent of bridges and building on D.C. Corbin’s Spokane Falls and Northern Railway. He built the home for his wife Ella and their children.
Another room is named for the Arndt’s grandmother Anna, who loved to entertain and have guests.
“She would have loved to have a bed and breakfast,” said Tammy. The Skinner’s daughters slept in the room when they were little. Ninety years later, the original owners’ great-grandaughter was proposed to in her grandmother’s childhood bedroom.
After more than 10 years of working on the house, the Arndts say they have touched every surface. The house seems to return the kindness, revealing occasional surprises.
Soon after moving in, the Arndts discovered all the door hinges are ornately molded with tiny designs and windows light the closets. Removing a false wall in the bathroom instantly gave them a bathroom big enough for a soaking tub.
While restoring the kitchen, they discovered a poster urging voters to elect Tom Foley “our new man in Congress.”
The house glistens like new. Rooms are filled with fresh linens, pretty antiques, and family heirlooms. The smell of baking cookies floats from the kitchen, guests are welcomed with steaming cups of coffee.
But the owners aren’t ready to rest.
“We aren’t finished, I don’t think we ever will be,” said Tammy Arndt. “That’s the fun of owning an old house.”
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