**UPDATE** Mead House: Council vote could make Proctor area home Tacoma landmark
Published 2:56 pm Monday, October 5, 2015
A single-family home dating back more than 100 years and located near Tacoma’s Proctor District could be added to the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places this month.
The Mead House (also known as the Keyser House, or Mead-Keyser Residence)—located at 2702 N. Puget Sound Ave.—was built in 1903 and originally owned by Ferdinand and Laura Mead, who lived at the residence between 1903 and 1920. It changed owners one more time before Bill and Paula Keyser, a working-class couple (Bill was a Tacoma firefighter for 22 years), purchased the home in 1956 and lived there for more than 40 years.
The landmark nomination was made based upon the one-and-a-half-story, 1,700-square-foot home’s architectural significance as a “fine example of the Colonial Revival – Bungalow style of architecture.”
Equally as interesting as the home’s long history and architectural pedigree is the amount of salvaged and historically significant material that comprise the 112-year-old residence.
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- Homeowner Lari Ryan sits near a bay window salvaged from the circa-1889 Hewitt House and repurposed in the dining room of the Mead House. (PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)
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- An earlier homeowner, Paula Keyser, posed in the same location in 1965 for a newspaper article about the historically significant home. (IMAGE COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- The Mead House was owned for more than 40 years by Paula and Bill (pictured) Keyser. Bill was a Tacoma firefighter for 22 years, as well as a handyman and avid ‘do-it-yourselfer’ who incorporated many salvaged and historic Tacoma relics into the home. (IMAGE COURTESY LARI RYAN)
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- The 112-year-old Mead House has been nominated to the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places. Perhaps equally as interesting as the home’s long history and architectural pedigree is the amount of salvaged and historically significant material that comprise the century-old residence. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
“Apart from the architectural significance, the Mead House showcases a locally significant collection of architectural salvage pieces incorporated into the house and yard,” wrote architectural historian Susan Johnson of Tacoma-based Artifacts Consulting in the landmark nomination she prepared on behalf of the current property owner, Lari Ryan. Ryan purchased the home with her husband, Jim (who passed away in March of 2014), 10 years ago.
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- The 112-year-old Mead House has been nominated to the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places. Perhaps equally as interesting as the home’s long history and architectural pedigree is the amount of salvaged and historically significant material that comprise the century-old residence. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- A bay window in the Mead House dining room was salvaged from a mansion built in 1889 for the late lumber baron Henry Hewitt, Jr. The Hewitt House was demolished in 1957. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- The Mead House living room includes a fire place that was salvaged from the former Hewitt House. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- A leaded glass window in the Mead House was salvaged from a home built in 1890 for the late newspaper publisher Sidney “Sam” Perkins. The Perkins House was demolished in 1960. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
Bill Keyser, a handyman and avid ‘do-it-yourselfer,’ incorporated many of the salvaged and historic relics into the home, such as:
- A brick wall bordering a backyard garden includes terra cotta tiles and a figurehead of a helmeted firefighter—known as the ‘Head of Mercury’—that were salvaged from the former Fire Station No. 6 in downtown Tacoma. The fire station—once located in what is today Fireman’s Park—was built in 1890 and demolished in 1974. A 1949 photograph archived at Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room shows former Tacoma Fire Chief Charles Eisenbacher posing next to the figure, which was salvaged following an earthquake that year.
- Wrought iron fencing and ornate wood salvaged from the former Brooklyn Hotel, which was built in 1888 and later demolished. Similarly, elevator grilles were salvaged from the former Bonneville Hotel.
- A bay window in the dining room—as well as two fire places located in the house—were salvaged from a mansion built in 1889 for the late lumber baron Henry Hewitt, Jr. The Hewitt House, once located at 501 N. 4th St., was demolished in 1957.
- A leaded glass “Tiffany” window was salvaged from a home built in 1890 for the late newspaper publisher Sidney “Sam” Perkins. The Perkins House, once located at 501 N. D St., was demolished in 1960.
- Bricks in the garden wall were salvaged from a former Catholic girls’ school in Lakewood that was built in 1923 and demolished in 1954 in order to build a shopping center.
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- A circa-1890 photograph of the former Hewitt Manson shows the bay window that was salvaged before the building’s demolition in 1957 and incorporated into the Mead House. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING VIA TACOMA PUBLIC LIBRARY / NORTHWEST ROOM)
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- Former Mead House property owner Paula Keyser doing home improvement work in 1956. Paula and her husband, Bill, owned the home for more than 40 years and filled it with material salvaged from some of Tacoma’s most historically significant buildings before the structures were demolished. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- A brick wall bordering a backyard garden at the Mead House includes terra cotta tiles and a figurehead of a helmeted firefighter (known as the ‘Head of Mercury’) that were salvaged from the former Fire Station No. 6 in downtown Tacoma, which was built in 1890. The fire station was damaged during an earthquake in 1949 and demolished in 1974. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING)
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- Tacoma Fire Chief Charles Eisenbacher (left) and emergency personnel pose with the ‘Head of Mercury’ figurehead in 1949. The sculpture was salvaged from the former Fire Station No. 6 in downtown Tacoma, which was built in 1890, damaged during an earthquake in 1949, and demolished in 1974. It is now part of a brick wall that borders a backyard garden at the Mead House. (PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN JOHNSON / ARTIFACTS CONSULTING VIA TACOMA PUBLIC LIBRARY / NORTHWEST ROOM)
Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission reviewed the nomination and held public hearings this summer (see “Mead House: A Proctor area residence salvages Tacoma history,” Tacoma Daily Index, July 7, 2015; and “Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — July 2015,” Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 3, 2015). The Tacoma Daily Index featured an interview with homeowner Ryan in August (see “Mead House: A Proctor area home moves closer to landmark status,” Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 20, 2015; and “Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — August 2015,” Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 1, 2015).
Tacoma City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on a resolution to add the Mead-Keyser Residence to the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places during a public meeting at 5 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 13, at Tacoma City Hall.
UPDATE | FRI., OCT. 9 @ 10:50 A.M. — It’s official. A resolution to place the Mead-Keyser Residence on the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places is on Tacoma City Council’s agenda for Tues., Oct. 13. A copy of the resolution is available online here. A copy of the staff memo is available online here. A map is available online here. The documents are also posted below:
UPDATE | WEDS., OCT. 14 @ 9:30 A.M. — Tacoma City Council approved a resolution to add the Mead-Keyser Residence to the City of Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places during a public meeting on Tuesday at Tacoma City Hall.
To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of Tacoma’s Mead-Keyser Residence, click on the following links:
- Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — August 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 1, 2015)
- Mead House: A Proctor area home moves closer to landmark status (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 20, 2015)
- Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — July 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 3, 2015)
- Mead House: A Proctor area residence salvages Tacoma history (Tacoma Daily Index, July 7, 2015)
Todd Matthews is editor of the Tacoma Daily Index, an award-winning journalist, and the author of several books. His journalism is collected online at wahmee.com.
