Help Us Save the Historic
Charles and Martha Brown House

Seeking the Past

by Stefanie Knowlton

A Stayton group is beginning to restore the Brown House to its original charm.

Look past the warped roof, the chipped blue paint and the naked lower facade. Then you might see the lady behind the dust and blemishes, a 1902 Queen Anne house, and start to understand why she was called one of the finest homes in the county. Now a group of local residents called the Santiam Heritage Foundation is working to make it that fine again.

Carved embellishments still accent the structure like icing on a cake. Each bracket above the porch posts was carved with exact dimensions for balance by original owner and builder Charles Brown.

Inside, elaborate woodwork frames the windows and doors. The craftsmanship is particularly fine in the living room where a small band of engraved plaster accents the walls.

Brown used clear old-growth Douglas fir for the bones of the house. This type of wood is so precious today that it only is used for furniture. Tongue and groove construction interlocks each piece.

The home is a testament to Brown's skill and attention to detail, said Ernst Lau, historian with the organization that's restoring the house. Brown was a builder, creating as many as 12 homes in Stayton, an inventor and an engineer. He also owned Stayton's mill.

" He lavished all the resources at his command to make it the finest thing in town," Lau said.

Electricity flowed through the home upon construction. It was one of the first in Stayton to do so. Brown also created his own flushing toilets for the family, but the rumor is they didn't work very well. He soon resorted to the existing technology.

Brown added a radiant heating system, too, which used hot water pipes installed behind the baseboards on both floors. All of these touches attest to the home's grandeur.

" It's a very individual sort of creation," Lau said. "It's not just a cookie-cutter house like they build nowadays."

Fall from grace

But the house has seen many changes since its creation in 1902. Martha Brown, Charles' wife, rented the home to a registered nurse and her husband shortly after Charles' death in 1925. The couple eventually bought the home and transformed it into a hospital.

They replaced the open porch on the southwest corner with a two-story addition. Builders poured thousands of pounds of concrete onto the floor in the second-story room to create a place for surgeries. Additional rooms were added above the kitchen and the pantry.

One of the second-story bedrooms was turned into a nursery. And the banister was cut so medics could carry stretchers upstairs to the surgery room. The couple also coated the whole interior, including wood accents, with white paint.

The house fell through several hands after the couple sold it in 1936. An external staircase, a wheelchair ramp and an outside porch were a few additions made during the next 50 years.

Then an energetic couple made strides toward restoration when they bought the home in 1987.

The couple's energy soon fizzled, and the house stood untouched and vacant.

Exterior photo detail © 2003 Salem Statesman Journal

Vandals hurled rocks through the original etched windows, and small animals, one of which is rumored to be a raccoon, took up residence.

Ferns began growing on the outside of the home near the roofline. The weather-beaten porch began to fold in on itself. Water soaked through some of the additions. Brush overwhelmed the yard.

Inside, layers of dirt and grime, stacks of old boards and chipped paint mar the once beautiful rooms. Spots of bright orange and yellow flowered wallpaper, evidence of a later remodel, decorate the kitchen.

In 2001, a group of Stayton residents bought the house with the hope of restoring it. They call themselves The Santiam Heritage Foundation. The following year, they had the home included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Reconstructing history

The group hopes to peel away the dirt and disrepair so visitors can see the home's original splendor. To do that, all of the additions must be demolished. The remaining home requires hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of work.

The group has enlisted help from local historians, restoration experts and the daughter of Charles Brown. Ruth Brown consults with volunteers by phone from her home in San Diego. She is in her 80s.

She has had pictures drawn of the southwest porch to help planners re-create the space, which is now covered with the hospital addition. She also told the organization that the open kitchen and dining room once where separated.

Other clues can be found from looking around the house, said volunteer and foundation board member Bob Pendleton.

In the hospital addition, you can see an outline of the moulding that once decorated an exterior door from the porch to the house. The outline of an original window becomes obvious when you see it is covered over with smaller boards used in later construction.

These little whispers of the past are called architectural shadows. Each one helps the volunteer group chart a course for restoration.

Underneath layers of wallpaper for example, you can spot the original wallcovering.

Interior photo detail © 2003 Salem Statesman Journal

Old photographs also help. One shows the white exterior of the home and outlines the original porch, which will help crews rebuild the structure.

Unfortunately, you can't see the southwest porch, which is the biggest restoration mystery so far.

A few surprises inside the home have energized the restoration fervor.

When Pendleton and others exposed the bones of the additions, they noticed the elaborate cornices that decorated the roofline weren't dismantled when the rooms were added. The additions were simply built around them. It's a small detail that makes Pendleton extremely happy.

Another surprising jewel is the front two rooms in the house. Unlike the rest of the home, these rooms were spared from the white paint that coated the rest of the house. The dark wooden accents look like new.

The room is almost a symbol of what the rest of the house could look like again.

Where the work begins

Volunteer crews from around the community already have cleared the brush from the yard. A few dedicated residents also removed the second-story addition above the kitchen and hauled out more than 6,000 pounds of concrete from the surgery room.

They also dismantled the rotting porch and saved a few of the small wooden accents to give woodworkers a blueprint to re-create them. The long cylindrical shapes that decorate the railings are called spindles and the triangular shapes that frame the posts are called spandrels.

Measuring the exact dimensions of the spindles and spandrels with calipers, two local craftsman, Pendleton and Paul Fontanini, re-created more than 50 of the wooden accents.

The pair also are responsible for most of the restoration so far. They are now weatherizing the home to prepare it for the long, wet winter.

Next summer, the group hopes to continue work on the outside of the house. The most pressing matter is replacing the old roof. Also on the list: Repair and replace parts of the foundation, install new siding and paint. The porch needs to be reconstructed and attached as well.

Once the outside has completed its metamorphosis, the group will turn its gaze inside. Wallpaper needs to be stripped away so experts can study the bottom layer and re-create the original covering. The white paint will be removed to expose the natural wood accents.
Missing architectural accents will be re-created and installed. Electrical wiring and plumbing needs to be updated, too. And the whole house yearns for a complete scrubbing.

In all, the group estimates it will cost $250,000 to restore the home inside and out.

Volunteers say it could take anywhere from five years to 15 years to complete the project. In the end, they all agree, it will be magnificent.

The Brown House, they say, will once again be on par with homes such as Salem's Deepwood and Bush houses.

Stefanie Knowlton can be reached at (503) 399-6735 or sknowlto@StatesmanJournal.com

Getting on the National Register of Historic Places

You don't have to own a 100-year-old Victorian home to get on the National Register.

Homes of all styles and histories can be eligible as long as they are 50 years or older, have historical significance and have retained their character. The process requires research and some effort, but you could qualify for tax breaks in the end.

1. Research your home to see if it is associated with a historical person or event, has unique style or has historically significant architecture. Look through county records for deed and property information to see if you can trace the home to a figure such as the first doctor in town or a pioneer.

You also can look at old newspapers to see if the home had unique amenities when it was built such as electricity or flushing toilets when they weren't widespread. Evaluate whether the architecture is unique such as a stone barn or whether it's part of an overall historic district that should be preserved.

2. Call the State Historic Preservation Office at (503) 986-0672 or go to www.hcd.state.or.us to get a preliminary application. This is where you get to write about what makes your home special.

3. Once the preservation office reviews the application, it will send a letter back either encouraging you to complete a full application or not. Don't lose heart if you are not recommended. The office usually suggests a few improvements that would help your chances next time.

For those who take the next step, the formal application requires more research and could take a year for approval. For more information, go to www.cr.nps.gov/nr

4. If your home is approved, it will be included in the National Register of Historic Places. You can then apply for tax-benefit programs.

Reprinted with permisssion, Copyright ©2003 Salem Statesman Journal

For more information send us e-mail.
You may also call Jacqulin Kirby at (503) 769-7817 or Bob Pendleton at (503) 769-5863.

back to top of page