Makeover turns home into national contender

The granite house with the broad front porch and the spiked turret was built in Spokane’s Logan neighborhood in 1901. It’s a funky blend of architectural styles, and like so many other older homes in the area, it’s had some so-called improvements done over the years.

One of these was aluminum siding, and in April, Spokane Preservation Advocates got a group of volunteers together to help remove the siding. The owners of the house would like to nominate it for the historic register, and in order to do so it must be brought back to its original splendor.

While the volunteers were at it, someone lined them up on the front porch and snapped a picture for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” campaign.

And now this picture is one of 12 finalists in a contest that features pictures from historic preservation projects across the country.

“We are very excited. This is the first time they’ve had this contest,” said Kelly Lordan, president of Spokane Preservation Advocates. “As an organization, we are members of the national trust, and we figured we’d give it a try.”

Lordan said the owners of the home contacted Spokane Preservation Advocates and asked for help.

“We have community service projects every year,” said Lordan. “Anyone can ask for help from us.”

And there’s still time to vote for the Spokane photo in the national contest.

Go to www.preservation nation.org and click on “This Place Matters” to vote, but do so before Friday. “Anyone can vote in this contest,” Lordan said. “You do have to register your e-mail address because you can only vote once a day – the results come out on Oct. 11.”