Pearson Museum
Pearson & Market
Stanwood, WA

The present appearance of Heritage House is essentially the same as when built in 1890. The home has been continuously occupied, and the owners have always kept it in good condition.

The three-storey house was built with the finest quality lumber. At the back, there is a one-storey utility wing extending directly to the rear.

The foundation was the usual block and post type - characteristic of this period. Recently, this foundation was renewed. The exterior finish is lapsiding and shingle; and the bellcast mansard roof is cedar shingled. The building has truncated hipped dormers on each of the four sides of the roof.

Bay-windows are located on both the first and second storeys in the south-east corner of the house. All of the home's numerous sashed-windows are double hung, with plain moulding and slipsills. The two port-hole win-dows on the front of the second storey are glazed in convex glass.

Above the doorway is a flush fan and above this is an eyebrow. The roof eaves are boxed cornices with brackets. A decorated single stack chimney extends the full height of the building in back.

The interior is high-ceilinged and spacious. The front hall has a wide staircase with turned newel posts and a heavy handrail in dark wood finish. To the left of the main hall is the parlor from which one can go into a sitting room.

To the right of the front entry is the master bedroom, and further down to the hall to the right is a large dining room with a butler's pantry. Adjoining is a large kitchen which opens to a south-facing porch. Be-hind is the laundry room and the bathroom. Furthest back is the ever-present woodhouse.

The second floor has four bedrooms; and the third floor, or attic, is open space.

Statement of significance:

D. O. Pearson arrived on Whidbey Island, Washington Territory in 1866. After a number of years of logging, store-keeping, prospecting and farming, Pearson built a store at Centerville in 1877. He also secured the license for the Post Office and was permitted to change the name of the town from Centerville to Stanwood. In 1884, Pearson sponsored a local Republican convention in his store. Two years later, he was elected as the town's first Mayor. He was subsequently re-elected four times.

In 1889, Pearson acquired the land for his new house; and in 1890, he moved into his completed home. An interesting original feature of the house were the geometric patterns painted on the bellcase mansard roof, as evidenced by the 1891 photograph. Painters of the late Nineteenth Century would occasionally add this finishing touch for decorative effect

Another interesting feature of the house are the "mini-mansard roofs", or eaves on the first and second stories. The original cut shingles com-posing these eaves remain in excellent condition and are set in an ex-pertly-laid diamond pattern. The trim around the front door and the bay-windows are also finished in this same design.

Also unusual are the two port-hole windows above the doorway. These round port-holes contrast strikingly against the basic square designs that characterize the rest of the building. Also, on the front of the house are bay-windows placed on the southeast corner to "catch the sun". These bay-windows, the dormers, the diamond-pattern cut shingles, and the port-hole windows all help give the house a strong and brooding appearance.

In conclusion, the Pearson Home was one of the finest in the local area, and even compared favorably with the excellent homes of Lowell, Massachusetts, where Pearson had once lived.

This web page is hosted by Mamoun Sakkal AIA, architect