Chuck Totten designed an Art Nouveau-style leaf-and-vine tile facing to replace Roman brick that had damaged the original Tiffany glass mosaic tiles beyond repair. The Ionic columns dividing the front and rear parlor are slightly tapered.

"It was a total wreck," remembers Karin. "It sat on the market for two years with no offers. We were the only people crazy enough to make an offer." Despite its rundown condition, a consultant told them, it was free of major damage, level and structurally sound — mostly because it's so solid. The house has foot-thick concrete foundation walls and equally thick veneers of granite at its base. Originally, the roof was black slate. Karin knows that because as she gardens, she keeps unearthing bits of it. "It's like digging potatoes," she says. "Same with the granite."

The couple has not been able to figure out who designed the 1909 house. But its boxy form, granite and brick veneers and thoughtful interior features point to residential architects Charles Bebb and Louis Mendel, whose client list reads like a Seattle Who's Who during the first decades of the century.

A sawmill owner by the name of Robinson had the house built, the Van Valkenbergs were told. And because his mill handled local softwoods, he insisted on exotic imported hardwoods for most of the interiors. He got what he wanted: paduak for the entrance door and hall and the parlors, narra in the stair hall and the den, white oak in the dining room and for general flooring, and apitong for stairs leading to the ground-floor den.

A concrete foundation and brick and stone veneers account for the structural health of this 1909 Queen Anne Hill home. Its simple "style-less" appearance gives few clues to its lavish interior treatments.
Frederic Burleigh restored the gold-threaded wall covering in the dining room using textile paints and new fabric backing to treat disintegrated and faded areas.

Over 90 years and successive owners, the precious interiors lost some of their integrity. Perhaps the most heinous crime was cementing Roman-brick facing over the living-room fireplace, irreparably damaging what appears to have been a gold mosaic creation by the firm of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The Van Valkenbergs saw past the losses and were drawn to the home's simplicity. "One of the things I like about this house," says Karin, "is its masculinity. It's very big and blocky and has those points of interest that are very European." She is referring to the eclectic interiors, a mix of Gothic and Classic Revival, Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau. With help from Craftsman contractor Jim Docherty, they have approached repairs with respect for its features and well-considered choices in making spaces livable for the family.

For Karin, whose decorating style is in keeping with the eclectic approach, the house is a good fit. It has encouraged her to pursue decorative painting in the parlor, new tile for the parlor fireplace, new stained glass on the stair landing, and new woodwork in the ground-level den.

Skilled craftspeople were brought in to do restorations. Tony Hardiman repaired fixtures in the hallways and sconces in several rooms. Gabriele Beatty, a fine-arts and antiques restorer, took on tile and wood restoration, facing the myriad holes and gouges that the materials had acquired over the years. Previous owners, for instance, had hung curtains in a parlor window bay by nailing hardware into the Ionic capitals. After repairing these, Beatty added subtle gilding to the column caps so they would reflect light and read more distinctly.

Leslie Fried was brought in to paint and stencil an Aesthetic-period design of floating leaves in the parlors inspired by a pattern on Herter Brothers furniture. And glass artist Tom Stempel created colorful art-glass panels to fill the windows of the stair landing.

In the kitchen, cabinets made literally from orange crates were hanging from walls. Nevertheless, the owners appreciated the original board-and-batten wainscot and the plan of the space. Except for new cabinetry, paint and lighting, it feels very much as it would have in the first decade of the century, right down to its linoleum floors. Karin says, "I can do everything in this kitchen that you can do with a trendy new granite-counter kitchen. With three kids, a dog and three cats, you don't want high maintenance."

Recent work at the house has turned the utilitarian stair to the ground floor into a handsome progression of spaces, crowned by shallow Gothic wood arches that reflect the blind arches above doorways elsewhere in the house.

		A Moravian tile fireplace with Christopher Columbus panel is original to the den, as is the tile flooring with key borders. New cabinetry in African ribbon mahogany complements the narra-wood panels and beams.

As she lists projects still to come and delights in those already completed, Karin is enthusiastic. "We love this house. We like the spaces, for a family. It's large enough so that everyone can go do their own thing and not interfere with one another."

Explore Queen Anne Hill
To celebrate the theme of this year's National Historic Preservation Week (May 12-18), "Preserving the Spirit of Place," Historic Seattle and the Queen Anne Historical Society will present a series of programs, "Queen Anne Hill: Past, Present and Future." The series begins with an Open House at West Queen Anne Elementary School on Sunday, May 5, where eight condominiums can be toured ($10). Lectures on Tuesday evenings, May 7 and May 14, include a slide presentation by community historian and author Paul Dorpat with his famous "then" and "now" views and discussions with long-time Queen Anne residents, business and community organizations ($20-$25). On May 11, the Seattle Architectural Foundation guides a three-hour walking tour around West Highland Drive ($15-$20). For information: 206-622-6952 or www.historicseattle.org.

Lawrence Kreisman is program director for Historic Seattle. He serves on the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board and is author of "Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County." Barry Wong is a staff photographer for Pacific Northwest magazine.