House built in 1888 among three added to register

Three homes in different sections of the city have been placed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places by the City Council.

The oldest among them is a Tudor Revival home built in 1888 at 2321 W. Boone Ave. for Fred J. and Alice Flint.

The Flint House is already a contributing property to the Nettleton’s Addition National Register Historic District and was among the first homes built after the area was platted in 1887. It is one of fewer than 40 homes built there prior to 1900, according to Aimee Flinn, a historic consultant who wrote the home’s local register nomination.

She said the home retains excellent architectural integrity. Its design features a cross-gable roof, gabled entryway and arched openings.

It was built for Fred Flint Jr., who came to Spokane a few years earlier and was working in real estate. He married Alice Gray in 1890, the daughter of a ship captain. Both were from New England. The current owner is Joseph R. Nechanicky.

A second home placed on the register is an American Foursquare home at 1636 S. Cedar St., which was built in 1909. The two-and-a-half story house includes Colonial Revival embellishments, said historic consultant Linda Yeomans in the house nomination.

She said the home remains in original condition and “was one of the first and finest homes built in the Cannon Hill Addition in the southwest section” of Spokane.

The house was built for Charles W. Hill, president of the C. W. Hill Printing Co., and his wife, Lulu Cornelia Hill. In 1937 after Hill’s death, Cornelia Hill gave the home to daughter, Edna Hill Hilscher, and her husband, E. Durand Hilscher, who succeeded as president of the printing firm. They remained in the home until 1948.

Prominent Spokane attorney Leo Driscoll lived at the home from 1958 to 1971.

The current owner, Kathleen Meyer, a Spokane neurosurgeon, has restored the home consistent with its historic character, Yeomans said.

Also placed on the local register is the Mele House at 302 E. Mission Ave., a Craftsman-style home built in 1923. It was listed in 1986 as a contributing property for the Mission Avenue National Register Historic District. The double-gabled roof includes scroll-sawn rafter tails and the walls are clad in stretcher bond red brick. The house retains its historic look.

Peter and Rose Mele are listed as the original occupants, said Flinn in the nomination. He was involved in the grocery business at Mele and Son fruit and produce company in what was known as the Washington Market, later the Central Market, at 809 W. Main Ave. downtown.

The current owners of the house are Paul and Elizabeth Essex, who live north of Millwood.