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It started with a local preservation group, Historic Seattle Inc.,HSI, which had been concerned about the Ward House ever since development plans for a convention center put the abandoned house in jeopardy. When the city began to take concrete steps toward redeveloping the Ward House block, Historic Seattle persuaded the owners of the house to donate it to them and only sell the land to developers. The owners agreed. "But by the time we took control of the house our backs were already to the wall," says Al Elliott of HSI. "We had been given a date to have the house off the site, and it was crunch time. "With no time to spare, the nonprofit group advertised for a sympathetic developer to move and rehabilitate the house. "Normally we're against moving a historic building," Elliott says. "It damages the building’s integrity, and it's usually a bank buster besides. But here we were faced with losing one of the most important old houses in town. We decided we had no choice. Anytime a city can save its oldest house, it's damn lucky." Out of the dozen proposals HSI received, including plans to maintain the house as a residence and turn it into a bed-and-breakfast inn, HSI chose David Leen's.
"Once I was picked, the most pressing order of business was finding financing," says Leen. That turned out to be tough. Seattle's large, established banks wouldn't touch the project, oldest house in the city or not. It wasn't until the attorney visited Citybank, itself a young company, that they found another group willing to take risks in the name of Seattle's heritage. "Actually, they were really excited about the project," says Leen. "And they were incredibly helpful in figuring out what we had to do to pull it off financially." Absolutely essential were assurances from the U.S. Interior Department that the project, despite the move, would still be eligible for the 25 percent tax credit for certified historic rehabilitations. As a general rule, moving a structure often voids historic status in the eyes of the department. "But because the house had been moved once before, Interior ruled that location wasn't crucial," says Al Elliott. So with Interior's blessing and a loan from the Small Business Administration in hand, Leen bought the house from HSI for the bargain-basement price of $7,500. For more than a decade the boarded-up house had been a haven for the homeless, so first came a massive cleanup as well as removal of lead pipes and 40 tons of waterlogged plaster. Sections of rotted wood in the rear of the house, where water seepage had been especially severe, were also removed and replaced. A new roof was installed. As other work progressed, all wood work was removed, labeled and stored to prevent damage before and during the move. Meanwhile, smaller houses occupying the site were donated to a low-income housing corporation and moved.
Completed last November, the house now draws curiosity seekers off the street for a little look. Although Leen tried to leave nothing to chance, the project was dearly risky. Why would the lawyer take such an expensive gamble when he could have found a nice contemporary office uptown with no big investment, no leaky roof and no $45,000 bill for moving utility wires? "Well, there's no other structure like it in Seattle," explains Leen. "It's really a lovely old building, a landmark, and it was just nice to have the chance to restore it." But he quickly adds: "Plus it was the perfect size for our law practice and it's a great calling card."
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