In 1912 a manager of Tacoma's new Union Station built his home on a hill top overlooking Commencement Bay, Union Station and the developing downtown area.  It was not a particularly large house at just over 2,000 square feet and a 1,000 s.f. unfinished basement, but it was lovingly built in the Arts & Crafts, or Craftsman tradition that was at it's peak at this time.

Although it is classified as a bungalow, it is unusual in that the second floor is almost as large as the main floor and isn't the sloped-ceiling finished attic so common in homes of this style.  It also differs in that there are no bedrooms on the main floor, which consists of four large rooms.  There are three large bedrooms with attached sitting rooms, which is not a lot for a house of this size.  Most would have also squeezed a bedroom or two onto the main floor as well. 

Like many of the more elaborate bungalows of it's time, this house features a full front porch, large entry hall, open staircase, box beam ceilings, a large number of multi-pane windows, plate rails and built-in china cabinets and bookcases.

In time the neighborhood grew around it as many of the working class began building homes on this hill top.  There were many commonly built kit homes and widely circulated house plans at this time, giving the neighborhood a visual continuity that is appealing today.  These kit or "Sears" houses were common through much of the United States.

What is remarkable about this home, our home, is that it has escaped the well-intentioned "improvements" that have befallen so many homes of it's time.  The woodwork remains unpainted, it still contains it's original windows with the wavy rolled glass and the leaded glass in the built-in cabinets and kitchen door.