Combining past and present

House with rich history just right for new family

Megan Cooley   /  Correspondent

Photos: View slideshow

Andy and Jennifer Thornton were sick of the rain. They'd grown up in the Vancouver, Wash., area, but were ready for a change for themselves and their three young children.

After visiting Spokane one autumn a few years ago, they fell in love. In love with the city's classic old homes, its numerous parks and lively downtown.

Now, they just needed to find a house.

Jennifer took on the task for the family, flying to Spokane once a month for nine months to tour homes with her realtor.

"We were getting impatient," Andy says. "We wanted to get over here and get settled."

So the Thorntons made an offer on a South Hill house they liked but didn't love. In the meantime, they kept eyeing real estate listings via the Internet.

It was a Saturday morning when Andy spotted it – a newly listed 1904 house with a wrap-around porch and white columns. Using Google Earth, Andy saw that the house sat on the west end of an oval-shaped park – Corbin Park – on Spokane's near North Side.

"I could tell right away it was Jennifer's house," he says.

They asked friends who lived in Spokane already to drive by.

"I said, 'If the neighborhood is good, I'm going to buy a ticket on the next flight to Spokane,' " Jennifer recalls.

The report from their scouts was positive.

"Our friends said, 'Get over here,' " Andy says.

The sellers' agent hadn't even put a for-sale sign in the yard by the time Jennifer arrived that afternoon. She made an offer, which was accepted by midnight. Jennifer was told that the next day, during a previously scheduled open house, six other families made offers – in vain.

The Thorntons' home has a rich history. It was designed by W.W. Hyslop, a noted architect in Spokane's history, for his family. (For his in-laws, Hyslop also designed the house at 709 W. Waverly Place, about 100 feet away, which houses Waverly Place Bed & Breakfast today.)

The home stayed in the Hyslop family for 100 years. In 2004, investors bought it and updated the electrical, plumbing and other systems, Jennifer says. They sold the home to a retired couple, who moved to Europe after living there for a short time.

The couple was midway through a renovation of the home's second floor when they sold it to the Thorntons in 2006.

"The upstairs was all going to be open," Jennifer says.

Instead, the Thorntons altered the plans to create a master bedroom on the south end of the second floor, a bedroom for their two sons, Hayden and Hudson, to share on the east side, and a bedroom for their daughter, McKennah, on the west side. In between all the bedrooms is a family room with a pellet stove and cozy furniture. When the family members want privacy, they close the pocket doors that lead to the bedrooms, and when they want to be together, they open them up to create a feeling of spaciousness and gather in the middle.

"At nighttime, we sit up here and watch TV," Jennifer said during a tour.

While the upstairs is a private retreat for the family, the home's main floor is ideal for entertaining. The grand front door leads to a vestibule, where guests can leave their hats and coats. From there, one can see the living room, with its original fireplace and a sitting area that's backed by original built-in shelves. Turn right, and you're in the kitchen. Turn left, and you're in a long dining room with more built-in shelving, where Jennifer displays her collection of white stoneware.

The room wasn't always so spacious. The Thorntons knocked down a wall and converted a bedroom and hallway to create the dining room. To make the new space flow seamlessly with the original living room, their contractor added ceiling beams that visually extend one room into the other and he matched the look of the new built-in cabinetry with the original woodwork.

The design solves a dilemma that lovers of old homes often face: how to combine the charm of the past with a layout that meets the needs of how families live today.

Behind the dining room, on the glass-enclosed southeast side of the house, is a library. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases hold the family's book collection and two reading chairs are illuminated by a floor lamp. When the room is aglow in the mornings and evenings, passersby can often see the couple enjoying cups of coffee or glasses of wine together.

Jennifer, an interior decorator, has given the home an eclectic look. She mixes modern and classic furnishings, including a brown velvet couch in the living room and a dining room table carved from the wood of mango trees.

On the built-in cabinetry are a few nods to the home's history, including a framed black-and-white photo of the exterior and the house's original metal address plaque.

In a short time, the Thorntons have made the house their home. When the children aren't playing in the park, they're making up stories in the backyard playhouse that's original to the house, Jennifer says.

It's easy for the Thorntons to list their favorite things about the house. The library. The new great room. Its proximity to downtown. The home's downfalls are harder – if not impossible – to name.

"There's nothing bad about this house," Andy says.