Rock House Could Be A Gem

Okay freebie lovers - here’s something interesting.

Al Akers, a Valley muffler shop owner, is giving away a house.

It’s not your average, run-of-the-mill house. It’s an historic river-rock homestead - a former farmhouse, once surrounded by apple orchards and open space in a part of the Spokane Valley known as Vera.

The five-bedroom home has hardwood floors, a root cellar and an antique coal-burning stove in the basement. It has old newspapers stuck in the walls as insulation. It has a few of its original windows, which make the world outside look wavy and obscure.

The world outside this 81-year-old house - now in a hotbed of commercial development - would look very strange to those who once lived in it. Sitting near the corner of Sprague and Sullivan, the rock home is squeezed between a Dairy Queen, a video store, a Fred Meyer and a kingdom hall for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

It’s been squeezed in. And now, it’s about to get pushed out.

Actually, getting “pushed out” is the most desirable of the likely scenarios, says Akers, who purchased the property five years ago. He’s now seeking a commercial tenant for his prime real estate, and he knows it’s unlikely the business will want to set up shop in the drafty old cobblestone house.

Located where it is - in the middle of an active commercial district - the house actually is considered a detriment to the property. It has no assessed value. In practical terms, officials with the county assessor’s office say, the old house has a negative worth for the owner.

Before locating a business there, the owner or tenant will have to spend thousands of dollars to have it torn down. Knowing this, Akers and his wife have been trying to get someone to move it. They made their first public offer to give it away three years ago, when they were thinking about building a second Discount Muffler shop on the site. A couple dozen people stopped by the house for a look, but no one committed to taking it.

Now that the Akers are actively pursuing tenants, they’re worried that the home’s time may be running out.

The house, built in 1917 and 1918, sits at 15704 E. Sprague. Its walls are made with the Valley’s abundant river rocks. Jacob and Emma Kiehn were probably the original owners. They bought the land in 1917 and lived there with their three children, Etta, Selma and David.

In the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Valley directories show a deputy sheriff, William Truman, residing in the home. A Jehovah’s Witnesses church later bought the property and allowed several members to live there.

Today, Valley native Rick Cook resides in the old structure. He remembers driving past it with his grandfather in the 1960s, when Sprague Avenue was a quiet, two-lane road that cut through vast apple orchards.

He began renting the home in 1993, with his wife and four children. The Dairy Queen site was a small wildlife refuge then. Fred Meyer was a trailer court. Rite Aid was a warehouse. And the apartment complexes south of him were empty fields.

“I’ve seen Fred Meyer, Petco, Hollywood Video, Future Shop, Rite Aid, Plant Land and Dairy Queen go in,” Cook said. “I’ve watched it being built up.”

He’d like to stay in the home, but he doubts that will be possible for much longer.

“You’re looking at some serious money - even to fix it up,” the 49-year-old said.

The old structure needs electrical and plumbing work, new insulation and much internal sprucing up. Moving it would be a delicate - and expensive - task.

Over the last few years, a couple of the home’s would-be saviors sought estimates from home moving companies. The price range: $20,000 to $50,000.

The Akers admit, when everything is considered, it’s not really a giveaway.

But for someone who loves history - and doesn’t mind a 81-year-old fixer-upper - the old rock house might just turn out to be gem.

And a great save.

“There aren’t many houses like it available anymore,” said Elaine Akers. “I’d hate to go in and just bulldoze it.”