First Ranger Moves Into Renovated Historic Cottages
They go to sleep and wake up with the sound of the waterfall roaring around them.
Joe and Rene VanTroba and their children are the first family to move into the historic houses at Nine Mile Falls Dam.
The seven brick cottages are being renovated as a joint project between Washington Water Power and Riverside State Park. When completed, they’ll be rented to park rangers or used as park offices.
Most of the homes have been vacant for 25 years or more. The last resident, Dave Widgren, moved out in 1993.
Rene VanTroba, a ranger at the Little Spokane River Natural Area, says the three-bedroom house is ideal for her family.
Despite being the only family on the tree-lined street, VanTroba said it’s far from lonely.
“We have people come by all the time telling us that they used to live here, or that they grew up here,” said VanTroba.
Two more park rangers are expected to move into the brick bungalows by the end of the month.
“It’s been a dream of mine to get some more housing here at Riverside,” said Gary Herron, Riverside State Park manager.
“We have some quality people who come to work here, we train them well, they do a great job and then we lose them because we don’t have anywhere for them to live.
“It’s hard to make it on a ranger’s starting salary,” he said, adding that the rangers pay rent for the cottages.
Herron also said having rangers living close to the park reduces their response time in an emergency.
“It’s nice to have some rangers living out in that area,” he said.
Actual renovation of the homes is being handled by Spokane Service Team-Americorps, a state and federal program that pays teens to work on public projects.
Pat Kahler, project manager, oversees about 10 workers painting, cleaning and rebuilding the cottages.
“It was a major challenge to do it with the limited funds available and still maintain the exterior to conform with the National historic register,” said Kahler.
Renovation of the first two houses cost about $90,000.
“It hasn’t been a wrinkle-free project, but challenging public projects like this is exactly what our program should be involved in,” said Kahler.
By the time the renovation project started, the houses were crumbling. Overgrown vines crept through broken windows, sinks and tubs were cracked, plaster dropped off the walls in chunks.
“They were gutted, I think that was the word someone used,” said Kahler.
But VanTroba is charmed by the 1920s architecture of her restored home. She points to the glass doorknobs, hardwood floors under the carpets and built-in cabinets and drawers.
Some of the houses have window screens that slide up into the wall when not needed.
VanTroba’s house has the original double french doors that close the kitchen off from the livingroom.
All the houses have front porches, but each is slightly different from the others. Old leaded-glass windows have been replaced with custom-fitted modern versions.
Plumbing, electrical, and kitchen appliances are all new.
The cottages were built as housing for dam workers and their families in the late 1920s. The dam was built between 1906 and 1908, primarily to provide electricity for Spokane’s interurban railroad.
Washington Water Power bought the plant in 1925 and built the bungalows for their workers.
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