Bellingham Then & Now: Best of 2019

15 weeks and 15 buildings!  The Hansley & Holden blogging partnership thank you for joining us along this journey of Bellingham's history-through-homes. These are the notables from 2019:  

Originally posted September 3, 2019

Why we chose it: Cooper Hansley is the Cohen Group’s media guy, so if you meet him he’s likely holding a camera. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Coop has a lot of great things to say. In fact, this entire series was his idea, and each week he heads out to the site of these old buildings to capture their glory. The Gamwell House was the first post of this series, and Coop picked the house for its beauty, and unique detailing.

Originally posted October 9, 2019

Why we chose it: When I started reading about the history of the Herald Building, I was finding scraps of information, like the story of the installation of new LED lights on the giant sign. And then I stumbled upon a hint that the detailed parapet around the top edge of the structure included elements of a revived architectural style, and so I followed the rope back - all the way to medieval times. At over 800 words, it’s the longest post yet in this series, and easily one of my favorites.

Originally posted November 14, 2019

Why we chose it: So many rabbit trails on this one. I dove into the backstory of the building of the Lincoln Memorial but felt that specific angle would overshadow the house on Eldridge Avenue too much, so I dug a little deeper into architectural history...and ended up writing about Greek classical architecture and the Parthenon??

Originally posted September 26, 2019

Why we chose it: Sometimes you can think a building is pretty cool, and even find great information about its backstory...but You. Just. Can’t. Write. I’ve always loved the Crystal Ballroom and was thrilled to dive into the backstory on this property, but for some reason, the two writing sessions I had with the Leopold were some of the most difficult I’ve had all season. So for me, this post ended up as an exercise in working through mental blocks, and blasting the right background music along the way.

Originally posted November 21, 2019

Why we chose it: Cooper didn’t just take any old photo on this one. He set up a long exposure at dusk, so the darkening sky contrasted beautifully with the deep brick tones and the specks of yellow lights from the offices inside. With 5-second exposure, the passing cars disappear, leaving behind only streaks of red highlighting.

Why we chose him: As we covered several properties that were built from 1890 to 1910, names, places and themes kept repeating in the historic documents. There were multiple prominent architects of the time, but for 2019, Alfred Lee was the clear winner. As the designer of three homes in the series (Robert Morse House, Alfred Black House, Victor Roeder House) and credited with other significant buildings in the area (Old Main, Whatcom Museum), Alfred Lee is the most popular architect in the series thus far.

Originally posted December 11, 2019

Why we chose it: I’ll admit, I got emotionally involved with this one. An enchanting palace of a home owned by one of the first families of Bellingham was demolished. I never knew I could be so frustrated with the actions of a neighborhood in Bellingham in 1956, and also frustrated that since there’s so few records to work from, I’m not able to confirm the reasons behind a decision they made, so I don’t even know if I have the whole story of what happened.

Originally posted December 5, 2019

Why we chose it: Cooper chose this house as the one with a story still evolving. Most of the homes we cover have been through so much change in the their hundred-year history, and we look at what they were, and what they are today. Cooper’s “Now” photo includes ladders and scaffolding, and he talked with the owners about their renovation project when he went to take the shot. This is a house that is still changing, that reminds us that there are so many stories still unfolding, that we have yet to capture.

Originally posted October 3, 2019

Why we chose it:  The story behind this house, and its architect, and the world of its day, reminded me that century over century, so many things change - houses decay, they feel the rebirth of renovation, they see lives birthed, grow, and walk out the door - and yet so many things stay the same - human nature has tendencies that are as alive and well today as they were when the Blue Mansion was first built in a yet-unformed Bellingham neighborhood. 

Originally posted November 21, 2019 & September 12, 2019

Why we chose them: They’re the oldest and youngest of the buildings covered in 2019. Sycamore Square was built in 1890, just a few years after “Dirty Dan” Harris first platted Fairhaven in 1883. The Viking Union was constructed as a student center in an expansion of Western’s campus in the 1950s.

Next up on Bellingham Then & Now: a map showing where all the houses in the 2019 series are located.

Previously on Bellingham Then & Now: The Victor Roeder House has a blend of Gothic elements and “Bracketed Gothic” (ie it kinda looks like a gingerbread house).

Photos by Cooper Hansley.  Blog copy by Tiffany Holden ~ tiffany@cohengroupnw.com