I live on Vashon Island and I work downtown in a hotel. I’ve been commuting for over 20 years now. Over that time I have often contemplated selling my home and moving to the West Seattle area just to be closer to work and to cut down on my commute time as well as save a lot of money from the rising costs of the ferry system. Now I am so glad that I didn’t, for over the last few years, all of the runaway development of multistoried Townhomes and Apartments have in my opinion blighted the West Seattle area. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the Fauntleroy strip. I realize that this city needs more housing for its residents and newcomers but is it really necessary to tear down everything in the the name of progress? Can’t the city planners and developers leave a few pieces our past behind so that we the residents as well as the influx of newcomers can see, touch and feel the connection to our communities past history as well as a sense of familiarity and belonging? Ever since the city rezoned these areas it has been one gigantic giveaway to the developers and they have been in a building frenzy with no end in sight. One house after another is being demolished to make way for more density increasing projects. It’s obvious who the winners are here. The city gets a lot of revenue from the developers permits, fees etc and in return the city is approving most of the projects submitted and has given the developers free rein to build one after another with a complaining public be damned attitude. Built with no greenspaces, no yards, little to no parking, they push the foundations of these structures right out to the sidewalks and then have the nerve to call them “Townhomes” and “Rowhouses”. Miniature mental institutions and prisons are more what they look like to me. With a fat profit, the developers move on to their next project or as I call it, next victim. It is the residents who are left to live and deal with the lasting effects as well as the sense of loss to their communities. More often than not these units are boxy, unimaginative and leave much to be desired architecturally. The city and developers say that these new projects will attract residents who will opt not to have a car and choose public transportation. I say that’s a lot of BS for if you have the means to purchase a $700.000 Townhome or pay $2,000 a month or more for a modest apartment I assure you that most if not all of the residents of these developments can and do own cars. Drive by these projects at midnight when their occupants are home asleep, like I do on my way home and you’ll notice that there’s no parking spots open anywhere. How can the city planners call this a good thing? This is not the “affordable housing” the city has been promising and saying we need so badly. Many of the larger projects still sit with a majority of units empty after completion because of the high prices.

Up until now I have tried to ignore the malignant growth of these new developments for I haven’t really been affected by it or taken it personally that is until one of my favorite old homes was targeted. I drove by this old house for many years not even noticing it was there for it is well hidden from the street by large old trees, no doubt planted around the same time the house was built. I knew that someday it would fall prey to a developer and that time has now come. When I drove past a week or so ago I noticed that it was all boarded up and now sits empty. People were living in it not long ago. My heart sank knowing what is going to happen to this lovely old ranch style home. I did some research online and found to no surprise that it had fallen prey to a developer who plans to demolish it to make room for 3 Rowhouses. After more digging I found out that it was built in 1909 over a century ago. Although its owners obviously neglected it over the years it still looks to be in sound condition. It would take a lot of time, effort and money to restore it to its former glory. Had the former owners kept it up in good condition it would have fetched a decent price and might have been purchased by someone who recognized its historical value and then it would have stood for many more years to come. Unfortunately thanks to the city of Seattle’s rezoning it is now become a prime piece of land to developers and now this house is going to be lost. As far as I know the home was never even offered for sale on the open market. No one ever had the chance to save it even if they had wanted to buy it and restore it. No doubt the developers were courting the owners and drooling over this distressed property for a while and when they offered the right amount of money they accepted, and with that sale they signed this old historic homes death warrant. On both sides of it there are new Townhomes. It stands out even more now for even in its neglected state it still has so much more character and charm compared to the cheaply built, quickly erected, unimaginative and soulless projects that now surround it. That’s what draws me to look at it every time I drive by, for in my opinion, everything around it is modern, ugly and lacking any substantial character. This house is a window into the past that will soon be smashed to pieces. I would love to buy a home like this and when a developer offered me money for it I would tell them to Piss off! Some things are priceless to me anyway, and these historic structures can’t speak for nor defend themselves from their poor or lazy owners, greedy developers and the unwise decisions that the city planners make. Everyone may have their price but in my opinion some things like this old house need defending at all costs and to me they are worth far more than money for no amount of money can ever replace a piece of history after it is gone. This is destroying the charm and feel of many neighborhoods throughout West Seattle.

I assure you that the city planners as well as the developers who have made this all possible live nowhere near these overdeveloped nightmares. They make the decisions that we have to live with. When is enough enough? Must all of our local history be lost to greed, profit and demolition? What sense of our connection to history do we have in our neighborhoods if there is nothing left around us to remind us of our links to the past? I resent the fact that this House will soon be a pile of rubble in a landfill and only a memory will remain of it. Shame on anyone who allows this kind of thing to happen. As private property the owner has a right to do with it as they see fit however it was the city’s rezoning and the incredible amount of cash that these developers are offering that will ultimately take these pieces of history away from us. Even if you didn’t want to sell your home, your neighbor might, and once you are surrounded by a multistory complex built next to your property and your privacy is infringed upon by people looking straight into your windows everyday. It’s no wonder that folks tire of the fight and give in by eventually accepting the developers money and then down goes another house. Hey City Planners! How about eyeing a project a little more closely and protecting a piece of our history when the plans include demolishing a 100+ year old structure unless its deemed unsound and unfit to live in that is. How about not allowing more than 4 developments in a row instead of letting them build one right after another until the entire street is lined on both sides by them as one by one the homeowners give in and sell out to the developers. Either one of these ideas could have protected and saved this historic old house. Without any restrictions and free reign on development we will lose many more historical homes and buildings.

I was so frustrated and moved by this old houses plight that I contacted the Seattle building and construction office. Initially I spoke to a very nice and sympathetic receptionist who spent a great deal of time with me giving me info and telling me how I could voice my concerns to the cities construction and development department in open to the public meetings held monthly downtown. She agreed with my observation over the runaway and rampant destruction via construction that parts of West Seattle in particular is experiencing. She commiserated with me about the loss of historic properties, like this one, throughout the city due to development. She told me that the planner of this project might be a source of information to me. So on her suggestion I spoke to Travis Saunders, the city planner who is currently working on this project. What a waste of time that was. When I told him how much the loss of this old house meant to me he must have thought that I was crazy. I told him that I wanted to take some pictures of the house before they pushed it over and he stated that he could not condone trespassing on private property. Yet he wouldn’t tell me how to get in touch with the owner either. He’s working directly with and shielding the owner/developer of this property. I couldn’t sense any hint of interest, empathy or concern in his voice whatsoever. “Is there anything else that I can help you with,” he asks me. Jeez! What a piece of work No thank you Sir you’ve been extremely unhelpful is what I should have told him. He’s basically rubber stamping his name on these tacky little boxes and pandering to the developers as he approves all of their projects that are now plaguing the area. It is quite clear whom he is working for. And it’s only gonna get worse folks. When I asked him why there was no change of land use sign in front of this particular property like I see everywhere else so how could a citizen be heard at a meeting to oppose it? He told me that with a small one lot project like this there is no opportunity for public comment and that basically there is nothing than anyone can say or do about it. He doesnt know me very well now does he. I know for a fact that what he told me is just not true. You can go to meetings and speak your piece. It won’t do much good but at least you can have your voice heard. Unfortunately your voiced concerns will be drowned out by the sounds of crunching wood, plaster and glass and the roar of the demolition equipment that they have set loose upon us to destroy our neighborhoods in the name of progress.

I do not live near this home nor am I related to it in any way but somehow when I look at it, it speaks to me and soon that voice will be from the grave. I appreciate this structure very much. It matters a great deal to me. Its over twice my age, It was built three years before the Titanic sank for crying out loud. It saw horses and buggies passing by on Fauntleroy Avenue when it was new. Go back 100 years and it was already 9 years old and standing where it still sits today, albeit sadly not for much longer. The things and events that it has seen over the years as it stood there as witness, the families that it has sheltered and kept safe from the elements. The warm summer nights, windows open with a gentle breeze blowing and the long, grey, winter days with a roaring fireplace keeping it cozy inside. In good times and bad and soon it will be here no longer. It will fall due to money, greed and the city’s zoning changes. I personally will attach Mr Saunders name to this particular loss. He’s not the one who made the rules that made this all possible but he is the one who will ultimately issue a building permit as well as the demolition permit to the developer that will take this house away from us. I’m sure that he’s signed off on many historic demo permits in the name of “progress” in his day as have they all down there in the city planning Dept.

I guess that I place a lot of importance on the past and it gets stronger as I get older. People need familiarity and a link to the past. Every historic icon or structure that gets pushed over breaks that chain until not many links are left. The ones that do remain become even more valuable to some of us for they become even more rare to find over time and can never be replaced or duplicated. With sights on the future old things keep us in touch with our past. Apparently the city planners only want to look to the future and their vision of that future scares the hell out of me. When this house was built it was a different era and a simpler time. One look at it and you can see that so clearly. It reflects it in its style, architecture, longevity and durability. Not just another unimaginative box put up in a few weeks time by a crew using modern materials and equipment but a plot of land cleared, prepared and thoughtfully planned out and then an elegantly designed and unique home built by hand and purposely erected upon it. One-of-a-kind. It probably took a year or more to complete and yet it will all be splinters in an hour or two. So sad, I for one will feel a great sense of loss when it is gone. I equate it to knocking over an old lady, smashing her to pieces, and then hauling her remains off to the dump so that you can make room to build some ugly new boxes upon her grave. I doubt that any of these cheaply built eyesores will be around in 100 years from now. Eventually they will become run down, blighted, overcrowded miniature slums.” I’d be behind demolishing them all right now.

If you’re interested in seeing a piece of our local history that will not be with us much longer, I suggest that you see it now before its gone. Its sits at 5447 Fauntleroy Avenue, across the street from the school and park. It’s a classic ranch design with some Victorian influences. It looks like a brick structure but it is actually shingles. Old shingles, more than likely asbestos. Watch out neighbors when that dust starts flying from the demolition. Everything about this house looks original. Old sash single pane windows, shingled siding, eaves soffets and facia boards. That is very rare for a 109-year-old house. Most people would have at least replaced the windows and siding by now but that’s what makes this house so interesting to me. It is historic and for the most part unaltered from it’s original construction. Someone slathered some kind of plaster over the lower section of the exterior brick chimney but not much other than that has been changed, that I saw anyway. Although very neglected and well worn, in total, it is an original, authentic piece of accurate history from the early 20th century. It has two stories, 3 bedrooms 1 bath. At 1,500 square feet it has a decent amount of room for a family. Nice front and back yard. A thing of the past at least with these new developments. I am not condoning anyone to “trespass on this property”. I took my picture’s of it from a legal distance. However, I would have really enjoyed walking through, seeing and photographing the interior of this classic old home before it is razed to the ground. Sadly, soon, only photos and memories will be all that’s left for me to remember it by.

Although the city is trying to entice people to move to and live closer to work, use public transportation and leave less of a carbon footprint. I for one will remain on Vashon Island, for even though it’s a farther commute and the ferries can be quite costly, at least I don’t have to worry about this kind of ugly, runaway development threatening my neighborhood any time soon. No bridge and a limited water supply will keep Vashon safe from the nasty construction and development plans emanating from the city of Seattle for now. Some folks may like these new structures, young folks with no kids who work a lot and who don’t want or need a yard to take care of. Or people with bad taste or poor vision perhaps, but many people, myself included, will avoid these unsightly and overdeveloped areas like the plague and choose somewhere else less oppressive to live. So once their dirty work is done and this precious house is no more, when I drive by I will not look over to where it once stood for in its place there will only be one more modern, ugly, unimaginative box to look at. I will surely miss the old girl. Some may look at it as old, run down and in need of demolition, but a dwindling minority like me, will still respect, love and cherish this type of homestead. As long as it stands it is a portal to our past, a tribute to our heritage, something to appreciate, something that’s real and can be touched, something that gives you a sense or warmth, belonging and purpose and a true connection to our neighborhoods past. Something that these new developments can ever offer.

I am now sorry that over all those years of driving past it I never stopped by and introduced myself to the folks who owned it to tell them how much it meant to me and how I admired it so. Who knows. Perhaps if I had got to them before the developers I may have even been able to buy it from them. Not for what a developer could offer of course. Unlikely I know but just maybe they would have chosen not to be greedy and to sell it to someone who wasn’t planning on demolishing it but to someone who wanted to save it from imminent destruction and restore it. I would have been gladly willing to offer my nice, modern, 1,100 SF, 3 bedroom, 1 bath, single level rambler with attached garage. on a 7,100 SF lot on Vashon Island in trade for it. Call me crazy but I personally would have been willing to move from a nice quiet neighborhood on a little, quaint and rural island for a noisy over developed Fauntleroy Avenue and I would have done it in a heartbeat to be closer to my job and to save a historic home like this. Sad how the owners gave in after being surrounded by condos and being hounded by the developers offers, that’s when I would have stood my ground and fought my hardest for this houses right to stand where it has since 1909. I use the word priceless here, meaning for NO amount of money would ever take something that important away from me. Money can be, and often is the root of all evil. Especially when you place its value above something that is rare, priceless and irreplaceable. Take a lesson City Hall!

Rest In Peace 5447 Fauntleroy, You will be missed. I fell in love with and recognized your importance from the first day that I noticed you hiding behind those overgrown trees out front. It was like looking back in time over 100 years. It instilled in me a wonder and fascination of wanting to know more about you as well as your inhabitants. You stood out so much from the modern cookiecutter structures that now surround and tower above you. I’m so profoundly sorry that you will be destroyed. I wish that I could have been the one to save you, Sadly you are probably better off being pushed over instead of being left behind like the rest of us, having to deal with this ugly change and watch our neighborhoods character, history and charm be destroyed and blighted one demolition at a time by a city that obviously does not care, value nor honor its past and has allowed runaway and rampant over development to reign supreme in our neighborhoods. Not in their neighborhoods mind you but in ours. Mark my words. The chickens will eventually come home to roost on these unwise decisions made by our city planners. And when those chickens arrive they will most likely find that a 3 story Townhouse has been built where their coup once stood. Then they will only be able to circle from above and crap all over our neighborhoods, kinda like what our city planners are doing to us now by allowing these ugly, overdeveloped projects to continue. They seem to think it is the answer to our housing needs and perhaps they are onto something at that. Build ugly, tight oppressive housing and folks will choose to move elsewhere. I may not be able to fight city hall but I sure have grown to resent it for what it is doing to our neighborhoods. If you want this cycle to stop as I do, don’t rely on your City to protect these historic buildings. Buy and save an old house like this one yourself. Protect it and treat it right and it will shelter and protect you well. Then, after the new boxes are all built up around you, it will be your house that will stand out from the rest and be the one that people will look at and admire as they drive by.

I know that many would say that I am crazy, after all its only an old run down house , whats the big deal? but I will mourn its loss like the loss of an old, neglected, friend. The way I see it, anything that vintage, that has been lived in and inhabited by human beings for over 100 years surely by now must have a soul. I may take another route to work for awhile. It would be too hard for me to witness its grisly demise and destruction. I would probably stop, get out in tears then get arrested for punching someone in the face.