Wallace Stairs in the 1950's
On Saturday morning all of us ate cereal and at 8am we walked to the house on the hill to meet the realtor. We walked up this staircase. There are a number of parallel staircases ascending the mountain behind the town. The staircases are a couple of blocks apart. Some of the staircases are now gone and others are in a state of decay. There's an ongoing effort in Wallace to restore the stairs.
Entrance hallway
When we arrived at the house, the realtor and his wife were already there. A few minutes later an inspector John hired arrived. Ray who grew up in the house from 1945-1962 showed up, too. We went inside to check out the house. It was completely rebuilt a few years ago by a builder as a side project. The economy and the housing market collapsed and the house was being sold by Fannie Mae.
Lots of details
The builder was obviously a craftsman who took pride in his work. Everywhere intricate moldings and trim were installed.
New kitchen. Natalie, Ray, and the realtor
This whole kitchen end, or the back side of the house, is new from the foundation on up to the master bedroom.
John downstairs
Upstairs there are three bedrooms.
Master bedroom
Ancient chimney fire
When the inspector looked in the attic he saw the remains of an old chimney fire. Ray, the man who lived in the house, said this must have occurred before they moved in in the '40's. The charred rafters had been sistered with new boards.
Family room
The weather report for today was one hundred percent rain. In addition, the inspector John talked to last week said the property was located on the south side of the mountain that gets little to no sun in the winter. Not only was it not raining, but it was a beautiful sunny day with the sun pouring in through all the windows.
Secret bookcase door
This bookcase in the living room swings open to reveal a small compartment that has a set of steep stairs down to the basement.
Old foundation
The basement has two sections. This is the first part of the original house with a foundation of stacked mortared rocks. The new section under the kitchen has poured cement walls and floor and is a large room with a new furnace, water heater, and electrical panel.
Lunch
John and the inspector walked all around noting one thing and another. In the end, the inspector's report was all positive, saying the house is basically a new house built under an old shell. Eventually, I walked back to our house to let Gypsy out. Around noon, everyone came home and we walked to The Hub for lunch.
Don't mess with this vehicle
After lunch John and Natalie went exploring the town. Carolyn and I walked to the hardware store to get some supplies to finish the kitchen. Outside the hardware store was a 4wd utility vehicle with a big scary dog chained inside to ward off intruders.
Back alley
What the kitchen looked like three months ago
Here's what the kitchen looked like before we started working on it at the beginning of 2012. Back at the house I finished installing all of the cabinet doors. Then I touched up all the places where removing masking tape pulled up the paint.
Finished kitchen
This is what the kitchen looks like now. See that light fixture on the ceiling? That's a brand-new glass globe. This morning I had just installed a cabinet door, turned my back, and there was a tremendous crash of glass. I turned around and immediately behind me, the glass globe had fallen from the fixture. I guess the screws securing the rim of glass weren't tight enough. In the afternoon, I carried the other glass globe to the hardware store and was able to find one that reasonably matched.
Another view
I like the way the fir floors extend from the kitchen to the living room. It used to be a transition of old linoleum to carpet.
John in front of an old mine in Nine Mile Canyon
When John and Natalie came home late in the afternoon, John and I went for a motorcycle ride around town. John rode my 250 and I rode Carolyn's 150. We rode up Moon Pass Road as far as it was plowed, just past the Pulaski Tunnel trail. Then we rode back to Wallace and around the narrow streets on the side of the mountain. Next we rode back through town and up Nine Mile Canyon road. Right after I took this picture is started raining and hailing. We zipped home. Later that evening John took us all to pizza.
On Sunday morning Carolyn made us blueberry pancakes. I made brownies for lunch. We listened to conference. Carolyn served her special homemade tomato soup for lunch. Then we packed up and drove to the Spokane Airport and dropped off John and Natalie. Carolyn and I continued on home, arriving at 6:30pm. It was a fun weekend and really exciting that John and Natalie could find such an amazing house.
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