Jun 21, 1991
- Charmaine Bantugan
National Register of Historic Places - Oscar Blomeen House
Statement of Significant: Built in 1913-14 by a Swedish immigrant, the Oscar Blomeen House is a significant example of vernacular post-Victorian residential architecture in Auburn. The house reflects an adaptation of both the Craftsman idiom of the period and elements drawn from late Victorian picturesque house styles. A recent survey indicates that the Blomeen House is the among the most elaborate and best preserved of the city's historic homes. In addition to its distinctive design, the house was the site of Auburn's first hospital, established during the influenza epidemic during World War I and later operated as a maternity hospital. Historic Background: Located in the heart of the fertile White River Valley in southern King County, Auburn was first settled by Dr. Levi W. Ballard, who claimed a homestead in the area in the mid-1860s. In 1886, Ballard and his wife Mary filed a plat for a townsite on their land and called it Slaughter in honor of Lt. William Slaughter who died in the Indian Wars of 1855. At the time, Slaughter was a small village of a few stores. But the regional economy boomed in the 1880s when hops became the valley's major cash crop. In 1891, the town council convened its first meeting, and in 1893, the community changed its name to the more sonorous Auburn. When the hops boom went bust in the early 1890s, many area farmers turned to dairying and a condenser was established in Auburn in 1903. The railroad, too, played an important role in the local economy in the late 19th century, culminating in 1913 when the Northern Pacific Railway established its western freight terminus in the city, and built a round house and repair shop. In 1914, Auburn was incorporated as a third-class city. By 1920, the city had more than 3,000 residents, and a diverse economy that included a terra cotta factory (established in the 1890s) owned by the Gladding, McBean company, several wood product firms, the busy railroad shops and yards, and a prosperous hinterland of dairy and truck farmers producing for the nearby urban centers of Seattle and Tacoma. In 1930, the city boasted 5,000 residents. Oscar Blomeen was born in Sweden in 1876, and immigrated to the United States in 1901, where he married Ellen Wennergen, another Swedish immigrant. Following the birth of their son Nels in 1909, the Blomeens moved to a house on E Street SW in Auburn. Oscar and his twin brother Carl opened a machine shop on Main Street and later Oscar went to work as a machinist for the Borden Condensery. Between 1911 and 1912, Oscar and Ellen Blomeen purchased two lots on what was then called Catalpa Street and is now known as B Street NE. They built a small frame house on the northern lot and, following the birth of daughters Elsie and Lela, made plans to build a larger house adjacent to it. According to family lore, disparaging remarks made by neighbors about the original house inspired Oscar to design a far grander home. County assessor records and family history indicate that Oscar himself drew the plans, hauled lumber from a Main Street lumber yard, and did the construction work, completing the job between 1913 and 1914. By 1917, the Blomeens had moved to Bremerton where Oscar worked in the Navy shipyard. Thereafter, the Auburn house was rented to the Stone sisters, nurses who operated Auburn's first hospital in the home to treat patients of the 1917-1919 influenza epidemic. In the 1920s, the house was also used as a maternity hospital, and it was known locally as the "Baby Hospital." The small operating room and even smaller assistant's medicine room are still intact on the second floor. Surgeries were also performed here by Doctors Owen Taylor of Kent and Martin Lacey of Auburn, who later formed the Taylor-Kent hospital (forerunner of the Auburn General Hospital). In 1950 Ellen Blomeen died, and in 1966 Oscar Blomeen sold the house to Ada Lowe, the current owner, three years before his death. In 1976, Ada, her husband Dan, and the rest of the family began a long- term restoration of the house, eventually repairing rotting floors, falling plaster walls and ceilings, and re- staining the original fir trim. The restoration work was largely finished in 1990, with much work completed in the late 1980s by Mrs. Lowe's son Dennis Hefner. Architectural Significance: The Blomeen House is a locally significant example of vernacular post- Victorian architecture, in which the owner-builder successfully combined the Craftsman influence of the period with elements of the earlier picturesque mode. The house is characterized by its unusual but proportionally pleasing combination of Craftsman-like features (broad gable roofs with overhanging eaves, brackets, ornate knee braces, and straightforward clapboard and shingle cladding) with a large corner tower with conical roof and wide veranda with spindle railing and Tuscan columns that reflect the transitional late Queen Anne period. In its combination of vernacular designs, the house is unique among architectural resources in Auburn.
National Register of Historic Places - Oscar Blomeen House
Statement of Significant: Built in 1913-14 by a Swedish immigrant, the Oscar Blomeen House is a significant example of vernacular post-Victorian residential architecture in Auburn. The house reflects an adaptation of both the Craftsman idiom of the period and elements drawn from late Victorian picturesque house styles. A recent survey indicates that the Blomeen House is the among the most elaborate and best preserved of the city's historic homes. In addition to its distinctive design, the house was the site of Auburn's first hospital, established during the influenza epidemic during World War I and later operated as a maternity hospital. Historic Background: Located in the heart of the fertile White River Valley in southern King County, Auburn was first settled by Dr. Levi W. Ballard, who claimed a homestead in the area in the mid-1860s. In 1886, Ballard and his wife Mary filed a plat for a townsite on their land and called it Slaughter in honor of Lt. William Slaughter who died in the Indian Wars of 1855. At the time, Slaughter was a small village of a few stores. But the regional economy boomed in the 1880s when hops became the valley's major cash crop. In 1891, the town council convened its first meeting, and in 1893, the community changed its name to the more sonorous Auburn. When the hops boom went bust in the early 1890s, many area farmers turned to dairying and a condenser was established in Auburn in 1903. The railroad, too, played an important role in the local economy in the late 19th century, culminating in 1913 when the Northern Pacific Railway established its western freight terminus in the city, and built a round house and repair shop. In 1914, Auburn was incorporated as a third-class city. By 1920, the city had more than 3,000 residents, and a diverse economy that included a terra cotta factory (established in the 1890s) owned by the Gladding, McBean company, several wood product firms, the busy railroad shops and yards, and a prosperous hinterland of dairy and truck farmers producing for the nearby urban centers of Seattle and Tacoma. In 1930, the city boasted 5,000 residents. Oscar Blomeen was born in Sweden in 1876, and immigrated to the United States in 1901, where he married Ellen Wennergen, another Swedish immigrant. Following the birth of their son Nels in 1909, the Blomeens moved to a house on E Street SW in Auburn. Oscar and his twin brother Carl opened a machine shop on Main Street and later Oscar went to work as a machinist for the Borden Condensery. Between 1911 and 1912, Oscar and Ellen Blomeen purchased two lots on what was then called Catalpa Street and is now known as B Street NE. They built a small frame house on the northern lot and, following the birth of daughters Elsie and Lela, made plans to build a larger house adjacent to it. According to family lore, disparaging remarks made by neighbors about the original house inspired Oscar to design a far grander home. County assessor records and family history indicate that Oscar himself drew the plans, hauled lumber from a Main Street lumber yard, and did the construction work, completing the job between 1913 and 1914. By 1917, the Blomeens had moved to Bremerton where Oscar worked in the Navy shipyard. Thereafter, the Auburn house was rented to the Stone sisters, nurses who operated Auburn's first hospital in the home to treat patients of the 1917-1919 influenza epidemic. In the 1920s, the house was also used as a maternity hospital, and it was known locally as the "Baby Hospital." The small operating room and even smaller assistant's medicine room are still intact on the second floor. Surgeries were also performed here by Doctors Owen Taylor of Kent and Martin Lacey of Auburn, who later formed the Taylor-Kent hospital (forerunner of the Auburn General Hospital). In 1950 Ellen Blomeen died, and in 1966 Oscar Blomeen sold the house to Ada Lowe, the current owner, three years before his death. In 1976, Ada, her husband Dan, and the rest of the family began a long- term restoration of the house, eventually repairing rotting floors, falling plaster walls and ceilings, and re- staining the original fir trim. The restoration work was largely finished in 1990, with much work completed in the late 1980s by Mrs. Lowe's son Dennis Hefner. Architectural Significance: The Blomeen House is a locally significant example of vernacular post- Victorian architecture, in which the owner-builder successfully combined the Craftsman influence of the period with elements of the earlier picturesque mode. The house is characterized by its unusual but proportionally pleasing combination of Craftsman-like features (broad gable roofs with overhanging eaves, brackets, ornate knee braces, and straightforward clapboard and shingle cladding) with a large corner tower with conical roof and wide veranda with spindle railing and Tuscan columns that reflect the transitional late Queen Anne period. In its combination of vernacular designs, the house is unique among architectural resources in Auburn.
Jun 21, 1991
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