Category: Houses

If you’ve followed this blog for a while you may remember the One Dollar House, a Sears kit-built house that was barged to Sequim in October 2017.

I’ve checked in on its progress from time to time here and here. More work has been recently undertaken. This is how it looked yesterday with a new chimney under construction and foundation work for a front porch.

The chimney has some unique and beautiful stonework.

A ramp has been constructed for access. The last time I’d photographed, a ladder was the only way in.

The house was purchased by the current owners for one dollar. That was the last part of this interesting project that may have been low cost.

This old farmhouse has intrigued me as long as I’ve lived here. I wondered about its story until a friend recently forwarded to me a newsletter from Sequim Museum and Arts that contained a short article about it. The home was built in the early 20th century and was constructed from a Sears-Roebuck kit. Originally the Knutsen farm, the 66 acre property was purchased for $2 an acre. A child raised on the farm, Agnes Knutsen, was a teacher for nearly 50 years and began her career at Sequim Elementary School.

A new family home was built in 1942 just west of the original farmhouse. Its current owners plan to leave the original farmhouse standing as a tribute to Sequim’s historical farms.

There’s a very nice house in town that has a distinctive sign that declares its name as “Toad Hall.” We drove closer and saw two of these big toads on pillars, one on each side at the entrance. They’re distinctive. But I unfortunately can’t look at them without thinking of Jabba the Hut in Star Wars.

I have photos of a bunch of houses in this post.

They all have something in common.

I don’t really expect you to know what that commonality is. But it’s fun to guess.

Admittedly, my photos don’t give you a lot of clues.

Play along and make a guess or two.

OK. This is what they have in common: First, all of these houses are within a mile of where I live. Second, every one of them — and a couple dozen more — have been built since I moved into my house in Sequim eight years ago. On the face of it, it’s not worth raising eyebrows over. But in a small community like ours that’s a population boom. I’m part of it. And it’s happening beyond that one mile radius, too. It’s a nice place to live.