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Vicki Carter @ 1631 Water Street |
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Peaceful Valley is a unique historic area resting on the Spokane River just west of downtown. Small cabins and shacks became homes to the laborers and workers when Spokane was being built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The history of Peaceful Valley is very rich and colorful, including it being a “tent town” during the World’s Fair & Expo of ’74. These small cottages were called shotgun shacks or bachelor cabins and were only a couple hundred square feet in size. Our home, which we now affectionately refer to as our cottage, was originally built in 1901 and was just 250 sq.ft. The big addition came in 1905, expanding it to the current 562 sq. ft. of which we live in. The previous owner was absentee and rented it to a tenant for almost 30 years. The renter was quite the collector of junk. The pictures enclosed are of the home as we received it! We spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours sorting through piles of refuse for recycling, reusing, and dumping. We started on February 26, 2007 and moved in May 12, 2007. Just a little over 8 weeks! Our project included jacking up the house to set a rock foundation under the back of the house. Then we gutted it from attic to cellar. We rewired, replumbed, and sheetrocked. Next, we painted, roofed, blew in insulation, replaced all the windows and doors, and put in the yard and water feature. We did all the work ourselves, except where we were required to have licensed/bonded contractors. We vaulted the living room ceiling so we could expose the original roofline of the house. We kept the original flooring including the knicks and cuts from where they chopped wood to heat the home. We love the feel of Peaceful Valley and are honored to be a part of its continued history.
