Detail 1
This home sits adjacent to State Route 20, the main north/south highway running the full length of Whidbey Island. It was built as a small cafe / restaurant in 1928 and served as the local meeting place until being converted into a single family home. We are looking for early photos to prove our assumptions that the front of the house, which consists of a bedroom on each side of the entry door) was actually a porch on the right side.
Going past the front two bedrooms, you enter a large open space used for living & dining. We assume this is an original space with a roof structure made of scissor trusses as a complete roof structural remodel would have been gained little return on a large investment. Removal of an entire roof structure usually makes the most economic sense when one is adding a second floor to a one-story dwelling. Clearly a remodel occurred in the relatively recent past with new doors, trim, new flooring, wood ceiling cladding & a complete kitchen remodel. We replaced the roof shingles & painted the house and have since added a dry well & sump pump system to keep the crawl space dry (the house sits on a low spot and collects water in the wet season).
Original 1928 river rock stone fireplace. Subsequent remodel by former owner included the recessed lighting which gives the space a wide open, full volume feeling.
View of street side bedroom. This may have been built originally as a porch, then enclosed. The windows were upgraded in a previous remodel & provide a reasonable level of acoustic separation from the busy highway just outside.
The flooring transition helps define areas within the singular volume: carpet at the living room & laminate wood flooring for circulation, dining & kitchen areas.
Kitchen remodel done by previous owner. They did a nice job except for the granite tile used for the counter tops. Tile grout is difficult to maintain and the tile edge can more easily fall off. We prefer monolithic slab granite.
easy fix up……..but with no buyer interest
A home can have been remodeled with loving care by a highly motivated owner / seller. However if it has a major negative aspect, in the case the busy road, the asking price can keep heading south hoping for a buyer. Traffic on State Highway 20 is relentless day & well into the night and this was just too much of a drawback - even with the acoustic front bedroom windows, the spacious living / dining room, the nicely remodeled kitchen & a private, covered back porch looking out onto a large neighboring farm.
A property can work better as a rental than as an owner occupied home. The nearby military base has a constant need for affordable housing and renters are making a decision for a year or two and not a potential lifetime investment.