Tour offers history lesson

With its graceful arches, warm stucco walls and grand portico, the home of Keith and Darlene Morehouse could be mistaken for an ancient Roman villa.

Once inside, visitors are greeted with Craftsman woodwork, period lighting and vintage ceramic tile, all of which the couple have been working to restore since they bought the historic A.L. Porter residence in 2004

Built in 1913 by Gustav Bostrom as a “spec” house, the Italianate home is one of five Mediterranean and Mission-style dwellings in the Cannon Hill area to be featured during this weekend’s annual Mother’s Day Historic House Tour.

Reflecting a type of architecture not often seen in Spokane, the Morehouse residence is a textbook example of the Italian Renaissance style popular in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Although the couple were “overwhelmed” when they first saw the house, which had been converted to a duplex during World War II, they both saw its potential.

It took 16 months to update the home’s electrical, plumbing and heat before the couple and their three young children officially moved in.

During that time they removed a family-room addition that had walled off the home’s rear entrance and obscured a beautiful quarter-sawn oak door.

They also spent months tearing out wallpaper, wood paneling and carpet.

Although much of the home’s original woodwork was removed over the years – including the original boxed-beam ceilings and built-in china hutch – the Morehouses are gradually restoring these features.

In addition, they remodeled the kitchen and butler’s pantry, added a family room and are currently in the process of completing a garage that incorporates a pottery studio and woodshop.

Contractors are helping with much of the heavy lifting, though Darlene says she and Keith are completing the bulk of the finish work themselves.

Her husband’s carpentry is evident in the family room addition, where ribbon mahogany paneling echoes original woodwork left intact in the main floor library. Built-in cabinets and a tile fireplace surround give the new family room a vintage feel.

In the living room, the couple discovered the original Strobl tile underneath green marble slabs on the fireplace.

“It was very ‘80s,” says Darlene, an accomplished ceramicist who plans to replicate a complementary tile to replace those that are damaged or missing.

Darlene says the couple is about 80 percent through the home remodel, which she admits hasn’t been easy.

“We’re still married, and the kids are still alive,” she quips. “But I’m ready for it to be through.”