Country Charm Palouse Home Tour Takes You Into A Variety Of Homes Modeled With Heart And Vision

Seventy-five years ago, Clarence and Nellie Bishop discovered the house of their dreams inside a pocketbook-size catalog.

“A home of great dignity” is how the Aladdin Co. of Bay City, Mich., described its popular “Marsden” model, which sold for $2,919.35. The two-story bungalow featured a bay window with leaded glass, dormers and a generous front porch.

It even came with Aladdin’s “Dollar-A-Knot” guarantee: The manufacturer promised to pay $1 for every knot an owner found in the home’s exposed woodwork, including floors, trim and red cedar siding.

There was one catch: Some assembly required.

The Bishops’ new home arrived in pieces - foundation sills, radiators, chimney bricks, roof shingles … everything was shipped by rail from Aladdin’s Portland factory.

This handsome old kit home is one of five stops on Sunday’s Country Home Tour sponsored by Palouse Industries, a private, nonprofit agency serving Whitman County children and adults with disabilities. The self-guided tour runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person, or $25 for the whole family.

Other stops include the century-old Oaksdale Flour Mill and nearby Hanford Castle Bed and Breakfast, plus two more Garfield homes, all described below.

Spokane architects Herman Preusse and Julius Zittel built their reputations on Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, Carnegie Library and Gonzaga University’s Administration Building.

But tucked inside a hilltop grove of evergreens just outside Oaksdale sits one of their lesser-known landmarks, the Queen Anne-style estate of late-19th century banker and horticulturist Edwin Hanford and his family.

Hanford, whose 240-acre nursery boasted 60 varieties of apples, had the architects include a basement conservatory where he wintered his more exotic plants.

The home’s formal first-floor entry features Hanford’s starfish-shaped family crest rendered in stained glass, and the motif is repeated elsewhere in plaster walls.

The 8,000-square-foot home has seven bedrooms (five for family members, two for servants), four fireplaces, and a third-story attic so big that a basketball hoop once hung from the wall.

The current owners, Terri Gravelle and Paul Matthews, fell in love with the home’s distinctive turret and cupola as they drove up the dirt driveway six years ago and decided to buy it even before crossing the threshold. “I’ve always wanted to restore a Victorian mansion,” Gravelle confesses.

The pair have their work cut out for them, though. Only two light fixtures and none of the home’s original furnishings remain. The updated kitchen is a restorer’s nightmare.

In addition to their full-time careers outside the home, Gravelle and Matthews operate Hanford Castle as a bed and breakfast, catering to guests eager to get off the beaten track and step back in time. Guest rooms are decorated with vintage shoes, luggage and old portraits - “our adopted relatives,” Gravelle jokingly calls them.

Near the center of town stands the 3-1/2-story Oaksdale Flour Mill, a testament to Whitman County’s once-thriving gristmill trade.

Owner and lifelong Oaksdale resident Joseph Barron, whose father bought the mill in 1907, says at one time his family’s business produced 80 barrels of flour a day and had 18 competitors scattered throughout the county. But bigger, more modern mills and better roads made them all obsolete. The Oaksdale mill ceased operations in 1939. Barron, now 86, still offers custom milling from his garage-size operation next door. “I’ve just got to be doing something,” he explains.

Four years ago, Pam and Jim Shelden went searching for an old house to fix up. What they found was Clarence and Nellie Bishop’s kit home at 608 W. Main in Garfield.

The home’s crown molding, wainscoting, built-in cabinetry and other details won the Sheldens over. Modern builders “don’t cut little swirly things in the rafter tails like they used to,” laments Pam.

When you buy an old house, says Jim, “you’re part of history. It connects you with something.”

That “something” often turns out to be more chores, like rebuilding the porch steps and undoing previous owners’ mistakes. But the Sheldens aren’t intimidated. “It’s a hobby,” says Jim, “a 20-year project.”

“Our goal,” adds Pam, “is to leave it better than we found it.”

The large, salmon-colored residence at Fourth and Manring once belonged to Robert McCroskey, a banker, state senator and regent for Washington State College.

The 5,500-square-foot home, designed by Julius Zittel and built in 1898, served as headquarters for McCroskey’s 2,000-acre wheat farm. Interior details include a marble fireplace, carved oak mantelpieces and fir built-ins.

Richard and Mickey Leinweber used to brag that their turn-of-the-century home at 507 N. Fifth had the first furnace in Garfield.

Then the furnace blew up last fall, taking part of the basement with it.

Much of the home’s original ambiance survives, though, particularly its exterior details. Together with the Leinwebers’ elaborate flower beds, the curbside view suggests a scene ripe for Norman Rockwell.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color Photos Graphic: Oakesdale Garfield Home Show