Learning Tour Take Mom On A Walk With History
Remember when you passed up an opportunity to study early 20th-century architecture, and how you’ve regretted your short-sightedness ever since?
Fortunately, you get another chance this Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The cost is $8, and space is limited. But instead of being cooped up in a classroom, you can leisurely wander through one of Spokane’s most distinguished residential districts. Oh, yes … and bring your mom!
The occasion is the sixth annual Mother’s Day Historic Neighborhood Tour, a self-guided stroll along South Hill’s stately Sumner Avenue.
What gives the Eastern Washington State Historical Society event its academic flavor is the exhaustive guidebook that volunteer researcher Elizabeth Godlewski has compiled. “I tend to get carried away,” admits Godlewski, a geologist when she’s not busy digging up minutia for the historic preservation committee. Her 16-page brochure describes 22 landmarks along the four-block route, right down to their stone gargoyles and “jerkinhead” gables. (Explain to your mother that jerkinheads are abbreviated hip roofs that cap the ends of otherwise-open gables, and are indicative of Jacobethan architecture. She’ll be so proud of you.)
The brochure also serves as your ticket to explore six of the neighborhood’s most intriguing homes.
“What’s cool about this part of town,” enthuses Godlewski, “is that you can see every architectural period from a Dutch farmhouse to (Kirtland) Cutter mansions to the International style of the late’30s.”
Besides Cutter’s work, the neighborhood includes homes by his associate Karl Malmgren, as well as Harold Whitehouse (designer of nearby St. John’s Cathedral) and his partner Ernest Price, Gustav Pehrson (Paulsen, Bon and Chronicle buildings), and other prominent local architects.
Last year’s tour attracted 1,200 visitors. But the preservation committee decided to limit tickets to 1,000 this time, Godlewski says, because the compact Cliff Park/ Sumner neighborhood can’t handle more. She suggests allowing at least two hours to complete the tour.
Sumner Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic, and tour participants are urged to use the free shuttle bus leaving from Roosevelt Elementary School at 14th and Bernard, the Medical Dental Building at 15th and Bernard, and St. John’s parking area east of Lindaman’s restaurant.
Tickets may be purchased at Cheney Cowles Museum, 2316 W. First, or from a booth in the Cathedral parking area after 12:30 p.m. Sunday. More information is available from the museum at 456-3931.
The six homes open for tours Sunday include:
Nuzum House, 503 W. Sumner - Cutter and Malmgren perched this four-story Tudoresque home on a large basalt outcrop, with entrance via the daylight basement level. An elaborate oak stairway leads to the second floor, which accommodates the living and dining rooms, library, conservatory and kitchen. Four bedrooms and two baths occupy the third floor, with maid’s quarters and a ballroom relegated to the fourth. Multiple-pane windows are in abundance - the north facade alone has 568 individual panes. Attorney Richard Nuzum lived in the home from 1917 to 1946.
Mott House, 511 West Sumner - Benjamin Ewing hired Whitehouse-Price to design this Jacobethan-style brick house as a wedding present for his daughter, Dorothy Ewing Mott. Built in 1936 for $15,000, the 10-room home features an Arts and Crafts-style fireplace in the living room and a heavy wrought-iron stairway leading to the second story family bedrooms. maid’s quarters and guest room. Mott lived in the home until 1971.
Crommelin residence, 603 W. Sumner - The Dutch influence of its owner, banker Henri Crommelin, is evident in both the exterior arches and the Delft tile within. Completed in 1908, it was the first home built on Sumner, and is considerably more modest than the mansions that later rose around it. Crommelin’s concern for cleanliness and good health is reflected in details like the windows that ventilate large linen closets. He resided in the home until 1958.
Kemp House, 404 W. Sumner - This Tudoresque home was built in 1909 for Charles Kemp, owner of the Kemp and Hebert Department Store (now Auntie’s Bookstore) and the Palace Department Store. The exterior bricks are of pressed white granite. A balcony and porte-cochere provide views of downtown Spokane and beyond. Kemp’s wife lived in the home until 1962.
Hebert residence, 538 W. Sumner - Built in 1928 for Kemp’s partner, Henry Hebert, this broad English-style brick-and-stone home features steep roofs clad in tile. The first-floor living room, which runs the depth of the house, is finished in walnut. The current owners recently removed an overgrown barrier of lilacs, affording the home some breathing space on the formally landscaped estate.
Cliff Aerie, 7 W. Cliff - This six-level, Mediterranean-style stucco mansion was built in 1940 for former U.S. Sen. Clarence Dill. The living room features 16-foot ceilings and five arched windows that take full advantage of the home’s breathtaking vistas. Outside, a circular balcony encompasses the main floor. Sen. Dill lived in the house until 1970.