Why Is That Old House Up On Blocks? The Story of the Reard House: Part 1

Since this is my first blog on behalf of the Sammamish Heritage Society, I’ve chosen to address a question about which many people are curious: Why is that old red house boarded-up and sitting on cribbing beside 212th Ave. SE? Glad you asked. This is the first of two parts in which I’ll describe the history and explain
the future of the house. Let’s start with the history.

In 1890, German immigrant Jacob Reard bought 80 acres of logged-off land for $380. That property included most of what is today the Crossings at Pine Lake development. Five years later he spent $900 to build a large barn and two-story, six-room farmhouse for his growing family. A short time later, I imagine the family decided that it might be easier to make meals if they actually had a kitchen. Never one to sit on his hands, Reard built a single story addition to serve as the kitchen and later expanded the addition to include an indoor bathroom (visible on the left in the black and white photo).

By all accounts, Reard was a successful farmer but he didn’t like to stay in one place for very long. So, after ten years in the house, he sold it in 1905 and moved with his family to a 200 acre farm in Ephrata.

The property changed hands several times over the years until Oscar and Dorothy Freed bought it in 1928. They weren’t ready to move in until 1934 so for nearly thirty years the farm was occupied by a series of short-term owners and renters. During this period the residents made several contributions to the story: one community-minded family invited neighbors over for dances in the large upstairs room, another profit-minded fellow made bootleg whiskey in the barn, and an egg-minded farmer built a two-story chicken house with nearly 3,000 square feet
of space.

When the Freeds moved in, they put down roots and stayed awhile: sixty-two years. Their main business was to put their chicken mansion to work; they filled it with up to 3,500 chickens that could produce up to 1,500 eggs per day. To occupy his spare time, Oscar also raised Hereford cattle, made and sharpened dental instruments, and had a small lumber mill on the property (probably mostly for his own needs on the farm).

In 1945, Freed started the first water district on the plateau and became the first water commissioner. Since there was a shortage of office space nearby, his house
became the headquarters of the district and the office manager worked out of his dining room. Life on the farm continued like this until the late 1970s. Oscar retired as water commissioner in 1977, Dorothy died in 1978, and Oscar passed on in 1979. The Freeds’ son, Richard, and his wife had moved in to care for Oscar in his last year and stayed on after he died.

When Richard had moved back in, he noticed that the house had become rundown as his parents had gotten older. He wanted to restore the house but the family needed a place to live while the work was done. Their solution was to convert the unused two-story chicken house into a family home-away-from-home. When that was done, Richard turned his attention back to the house. Unfortunately, when he made a detailed examination of the structure, he discovered that the post and beam foundation had extensive dry rot due to the posts resting directly on the ground. The prospect of replacing the foundation beneath a standing house, in addition to all the refinishing, papering, and painting that the house needed, pushed the project beyond the size he was willing to tackle. So, the family continued to live in the chicken house and the farmhouse continued to deteriorate as shingles fell off, windows broke, and barn swallows moved in.

Watch for part two to read about the current situation and plans for the future of the house.

Follow this link for even more details about the history of the Reard House.