Lately, I've heard complaints that only the rich can afford to live in Fremont. When I recently found out my favorite Real Change newspaper vendor, Van Crowder, had moved into Fremont, I asked him about renting here.
Van met Bob Bailey while selling papers. "He knew I was looking for something," and Van rented a room from Bob in "upper" Fremont (the area above North 39th Street). While Van doesn't feel we have enough trees, he said, "Fremont's OK. I like it."
Bob bought his house in 1994 and rents out rooms because he said he feels selfish rambling about in a five-bedroom house alone. He admitted it's nice, financially, to get the rent, but he sounds sincere in his desire to give people a place to live.
"It is nice to have people around," he said, and his tenants, like Van, keep his life colorful.
UPPING THE ANTE
A friend of Van's, Marcie McMillen, rents "a small, little apartment" nearby. Currently laid-off, she said, "It's kind of alarming to see how fast the rent goes up.... One more rent raise and I'm out."
Marcie has encountered fierce competition over apartments like hers: "I showed up early [to answer the rental advertisement], and there were already six people ahead of me." One applicant offered the rental agent money to move up the list, she related.
"I am fortunate I can live alone," she said.
By personal choice, Marcie has avoided moving outside the city, where she could get something cheaper, or sharing with a roommate. "If my rent goes up much more," she said, "I may have to revisit those choices."
"Fremont is a very desirable neighborhood," Bob remarked.
He receives weekly requests to sell his house. He estimates its value has tripled since he bought it. He doesn't expect housing costs to go down, but he admitted he'd almost welcome a drop: "It wouldn't affect me one way or another. I'll be living here for a good, long time.
"What's sad is that there is no blue-collar housing anymore: Seattle has just pushed them out," he said.
Bob has lived in Fremont since 1976 and has security in owning his house. He said he won't sell: "I just like the neighborhood, and what would I do with the money?"
As for Van, he said he only expects to stay a year or so, "and I might want to strike out on my own."
A CITY LANDMARK?
A block over is a rental property, at 4401 Phinney Ave. N., dubbed "the only house of its kind in Seattle!" on fliers posted on telephone poles around Fremont. The flier urges readers to support an effort to have the building declared a city landmark.
The flier directed me to the current owner, Gronvold Construction Co., and Kirk Gronvold. He stated, unequivocally, that the nomination "is definitely against our wishes."
His grandfather started their company building brick Tudor houses in Ballard. Today, Kirk and his father, Ken Gronvold, are still based in Ballard and build apartment and multi-unit buildings around North Seattle.
According to Kirk, Ken bought the building on Phinney 30 or more years ago and continued to rent it out. Now they have plans to build a three-phase development there, creating nine housing units.
If designated a landmark, Kirk admitted, it will cause financial hardship for the company. Landmarked buildings can earn some tax relief, according to the Department of Neighborhoods Historic Preservation website, but any changes to the exterior and any changes to the interior visible from the street require Certificates of Approval. No demolition or new construction is allowed.
Kirk suggests people who want to preserve history "save some place that is worth saving." The building has been remodeled and altered throughout its 100-year history as a rental property and is "just about to fall down," according to Kirk.
It has dry rot, antique plumbing and wiring and is always breezy or drafty. Many exterminators have fought - and lost - battles to remove ant infestations.
IT'S WHAT'S ON THE OUTSIDE...
Carol Tobin, who co-wrote the nomination, responded that "the condition of the house is not part of the designation. The interior is not significant; the main façade is the important part."
She allowed that the condition may figure into considerations by the Landmark Board.
Fremont has a long history as a neighborhood of Seattle, Carol pointed out, but we have no residential landmark-designated homes. "Most buildings have been altered so they don't retain their original character," she explained.
The flier states the building meets two criteria necessary to gain landmark status. It "embodies the distinctive, visible characteristics of an architectural style or period or a method of construction," and as an easily identifiable structure that contributes to the distinctive quality of our neighborhood or the city.
Kirk said the first he heard of the house's historical significance came by a phone call earlier this year notifying him of the nomination. "Why in the world are they trying to make that dump a landmark?" he asked.
Walking by it, as I have many times, I had to ask a similar question.
A public meeting on the nomination, rescheduled from August, will take place Sept. 19. To view more, including contact information for submitting written comments and the full nomination, go to www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/landmarks_current_nom.htm.
FINAL NOTE
On Aug. 25, Fremonsters and Fremont sympathizers turned out at a fund-raiser (and a fun party) at Planet Earth Yoga to support Doug Stacey and Don Stayner.
An electrical fire on July 28 destroyed their home and business, Art F/X, as well as taking the life of their beloved cat, Mimi.
Friends gathered to show pleasure that the guys survived and to show support as they rebuild.
Kirby Lindsay lives in Fremont. She welcomes your comments at fremont@oz.net.
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