"Classic Houses Of Seattle"

FRANK AND BONNIE Cech had no idea they lived in a celebrity home until they looked through a paper bag left by the former owners. It included a charred and crumpled newspaper article pronouncing it the Model Home of 1925.

The tidy Tudor Revival cottage in the Eastlake neighborhood didn't seem all that uncommon. But in June of 1925, as the centerpiece for a celebration called Better Home Week, its construction and furnishing became the subject of a series of articles in The Seattle Daily Times, co-sponsor with Stetson & Post Lumber Co. of a model home program. Grote-Rankin Co., a leading Seattle furniture store with branches in Portland and Spokane, took responsibility for interior design and furnishing. The intent was to show off the latest ideas in home design and decoration and, indirectly, to stimulate sales of new products.

The house's pedigree might have remained in obscurity had it not been for architectural historian and educator Caroline Swope, who discovered it as she browsed through an important local photography collection. Swope includes this home in "Classic Houses of Seattle: High Style to Vernacular, 1870-1950." In it, she explores more than 120 Seattle houses of every imaginable style. In the case of this house, the prolific photography firm of Webster & Stevens documented its construction and completed rooms; these images are now part of the Pemco Webster & Stevens Collection at the Museum of History & Industry.

Designed by Edward Merritt, who had worked for Jud Yoho's Craftsman Company designing bungalows, the house's irregular composition of gables, dormers and bays gave it storybook-cottage street appeal. While similar homes were commonly built with brick or stucco veneers, this house was sheathed with wood, making its applied half-timbered gable trim incongruous, albeit picturesque.

The Times was particularly proud of the interiors, which featured hardwood floors, a tiled fireplace and attractive lighting sconces. "The close relationship in arrangement and architectural design between the living room, dining room and sunroom provides a clear, unbroken sweep of beautifully finished walls and richly executed hardwood flooring, unbroken save for the distinctive vaulted passages between the rooms," The Times wrote on June 21, 1925.

The paper went into detail about the color scheme, describing the rough plaster walls painted "a warm neutral shade, a rich blending of four colors in what is called Tiffany finish." Modern intrusions, such as the radio and phonograph, were tastefully disguised in a handsome wood Brunswick console.

Needless to say, a number of owners have put their mark on the house since then, most notably by replacing some leaded windows with aluminum and plate glass and by remodeling the kitchen and bathroom. The Cechs have been slowly trying to undo some of these changes to bring harmony back into the house. Fortunately, Frank Cech honed his repair skills on previous old houses and was able to do much of the work himself or as general contractor.

The couple had the house painted to highlight the faux half-timbering that had been painted out in the body color years before. Most of the aluminum-framed windows have been replaced with Cherry Creek windows, including leaded-glass profiles that closely match the originals. The largely unfinished basement now has a new bathroom and a recreation room for their two sons.

The most noticeable change came from removing the wall separating the kitchen from the tiny breakfast room. This required a new steel beam to support the upper floor. The breakfast-nook ceiling was raised so the room is now a light, airy eating spot for the whole family.

There is more work ahead on the bathrooms and to the light fixtures. While not looking for original parts, the Cechs are trying to make the rooms feel as they did when they were the trend-setting model for consumers.

Surrounded by family heirlooms — his grandmother's wall sconces in the sunroom and grandfather's daybed in the living room, Frank Cech says, "Living in an old house has so much more in it than new construction. It feels more substantial. It's got history behind it. And of course, there are always surprises working with it — nothing is straight, nothing's square."

Lawrence Kreisman is program director of Historic Seattle and author of "Made To Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County." Greg Gilbert is a Seattle Times staff photographer.