Politics & Government

Making History: Historic Reard House Ready to Roll

The home will be lifted, shifted and maneuvered to its new home this Sunday.

The Jacob and Emma Reard House is finally moving to its new home on Sunday, June 3—early Sunday morning, 3 a.m., to be exact.

The house shall be lifted, shifted and maneuvered approxiately one mile to its new location at Sammamish's newest parkland, currently designated off 220th Avenue S.E. Once in its new site, the Heritage Society will refurbish both the exterior and interior. The overall goal is to restore the house to its original state and use the house as a cornerstone of a new park in Sammamish.

Three years ago, the Jacob and Emma Reard House (formerly known as the Freed House) located in Sammamish was targeted for a fire burn exercise or possibly demolition for the creation of park benches. That was until a small group of dedicated Sammamish Heritage Society volunteers banded together to save the oldest remaining house in Sammamish.

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In the past two-plus years, the Sammamish Heritage Society has raised more than $80,000 from fundraising and grants to relocate and preserve this original home built in the 1890s. The money includes a recent grant of $12,000 from 4Culture's Landmarks Rehabilitation Fund, financed through the county hotel, motel tax and is administered by 4Culture. This money will be used for the restoration of the windows on the Reard Home.

Sammamish Heritage Society President Ella Moore also announced a new grant from the Snoqualmie Tribe for the Reard house. Steve Mases Mullen, Director of Archeology and Historical Preservation of the Snoqualmie Tribe, wants to work together on preservation of the culture on the plateau. They are funding a $1,500 grant. For the complete restoration more volunteer hours and funds will be needed. Recently, dozens of Boy Scouts helped clear out the house to help prepare it for the move; Moore told city councilmembers that as many of the original bricks cleared out of the fireplace by the scouts as possible will be reused in refurbishing the house.

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In 2010, the Reard House was placed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation's List of the top most endangered historic sites. In 2011, the city of Sammamish and the King County Landmark Commission designated the Jacob and Emma Reard House the first historic landmark in the city of Sammamish. In late 2011, to the city of Sammamish as the future home of the Reard House.

If you'd like to learn more about the Reard House, read historian Steve Thues' blog posts on the Story of the Reard House: Part I and Part II. To find out how you can help, contact the Sammamish Heritage Society at sammamish.heritage@hotmail.com or Mary Moore, Reard House Project Leader at (425) 283-8749.


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