Historic Treasure Hunt

Earlier this week I got an unexpected call from a previous owner of our home (the one before the family from whom we bought it) who said she had done some research, at one time, into the history of the house to see if it might have been a Sears catalog home. She had some books and documentation she had collected on the subject and asked if she could drop the materials by if I was interested in pursuing it further. Of course I couldn't wait to learn more about our 92-year-old house!

I actually read in a decorating magazine a few weeks ago about an owner of a historic home who received a letter and pictures from a past owner, and I wished that would happen to us. Never in a million years would I have expected it would actually happen!

Linda, the previous owner who brought us the materials (and who now lives in our old neighborhood, ironically), said she reached out to the ancestors of the original owners of the home, and she had received a letter in return. The letter talks about what the house was like in the '50s when the author would visit his grandparents (the homeowners) while he was attending OU. He describes the china cabinets as beautiful mahogany filled with china and glass serving pieces.

At some point they were painted, but I can imagine how stately and beautiful they must have been in their original state!

The letter also describes a grand piano in the living room, a grandfather clock by the staircase and four-poster beds that required step ladders to climb into. I'm afraid my casual style can't live up to the elegant style this house once knew.

After Linda dropped off her materials, I couldn't wait to start researching. The Internet really helped with this research, and it's a tool Linda didn't have to the same extent back in the '90s.

Our home is a Dutch Colonial style, and Sears did have a mail-order home of similar style during the '20s when our house was built. I also looked into other mail-order home companies of the era, and they all had Dutch Colonials, too.

Sears' was called The Verona:

Montgomery Ward (Wardway Homes) called theirs The Lexington:

C.L. Bowes Co. Design 12322-B:

Gordon Van Tine's #704:

Aladdin's Amsterdam:

Unfortunately, while they all look similar to our house, none of them are a perfect match. I also compared the floor plans and, again, none are a perfect match. A few of them had four bedrooms on the second floor and one even had a sewing room! Several also had breakfast nooks or pantries, which would be nice. The most similar floor plans were The Lexington and Gordon Van Tine's #704, which are identical homes (some architect was working the system and selling his plans to multiple companies!).

Although my search ended in disappointment about our home not being of the mail-order variety, it was still a fun hunt for information, and I was glad to learn more about the history of our house. When we read through the abstract, we discovered that we are only the sixth owners in 92 years! I hope that foreshadows a many happy years for us here. 

P.S. - Linda said her and her husband moved to a single-level home due to her bad knee. I'm guessing she's the reason for our random first-floor closet shower! But I didn't have the guts to ask, haha. 

Uninterested Eater

This is every meal these days. Nora refuses to eat without multiple distractions. And, of course, everything ends up on the floor by the end.

The Last Frontier

About a week ago, Levi and I got back from visiting Alaska with our friends Andrew and Mary Rachel. It was a great baby-free vacation where we got to take in lots of God's beauty and spend time with some sweet friends as we all celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversaries. We had a packed week with lots of activities, but it would have been a shame to miss out on all Alaska has to offer. There are still many things we had to say "no" to simply because of time. Trust me, you would not be bored if you spent two or three weeks there!

We primarily stayed in Anchorage with a few day trips to Seward, Hope and Eagle River for various activities. During the train ride to Seward, we learned that Anchorage's population is about 300,000 people, which is 41% of the entire state's population! That means that the entire state of Alaska (two times as big as Texas) has a population that's less than that of Oklahoma City. Can you imagine how much of the state is untouched terrain? There are no interstates (obviously) and most roads just end when you get out of town far enough (because where else would you go?).

Everyone who visits Alaska comes back talking about how beautiful it is. It seems like one of those cliche things people say, but Alaska really is incredibly beautiful. These pictures can't even capture it. Levi and I have traveled a lot of places, but Alaska really has been the prettiest (besides Switzerland, Levi would say - I've yet to experience that).

We left Saturday and got to spend the night with Amy and Holt in Tacoma on our way. We hadn't seen them since Christmas and our visit was too short, but we're looking forward to going back to see them in July.

We arrived in Alaska close to midnight, so we went straight to bed and then started our first full day with a trip to the zoo, which was actually quite interesting, since it had all Alaskan/cold-weather animals. There were several we'd never seen before and many that were larger than the ones we have at home (the tigers, for example).

Also on the first day, we went whitewater rafting. I wasn't feeling too great when we got there (motion sickness from the car ride and lack of sleep) and I ended up throwing up off the side of the raft after the last rapid. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. Nothing a few saltines, ibuprofen and some Sprite for dinner can't fix!

The second day we rode the train (an incredibly beautiful 4-hour ride which we almost missed because we parked a mile from the station - oops!) to Seward to go kayaking. This was probably my favorite day. The kayaking was relaxing and fun, and we had some deliciously fresh seafood for dinner. The town is also really cute and quaint. I wish we could have spent more time there!

The third day, Mary Rachel and I got pedicures (I know we can do that at home, haha!) and the boys and I went rock climbing (yes, Levi packed 50 lbs. of his own gear just to climb in Alaska) while Mary Rachel went to a bachelorette party for the wedding she and Andrew were going to go to at the end of the week (the catalyst for the whole trip). We ended up rock climbing until 11 p.m. simply because it's light all the time during the summer and we could!

Thursday was our last full day there, and we spent it doing some shopping, driving up to Flat Top where you have a view of the whole city, and going to an awesome nature center in Eagle River. They told us there had been some bear sightings on the trails recently, but thankfully none approached us on our hike. We did see some tracks, though, and several moose prints.

It was a really fun trip, and we hope to get to travel with the Fenricks again. Maybe we'll even take our girls with us someday - or not. It was nice to sleep in and make pancakes at midnight, just because we could. Thanks to my parents for keeping Nora so we could enjoy some adult time. It was a nice break!