10
community
june14
2011
Living On a Lake in the Country: A Victorian in Mist - Part II
By Gayle Rich-Boxman
In Part 1, I talked about the
Magnussen family who homesteaded
and originally built this beautiful
structure in 1870. Part II goes on with
the history as told by Louise Green, who
with her husband Orin are the current
owner/seller:
The Magnussen’s daughter,
Anna was the first school bus driver in
Mist. The bus consisted of two horses
and a wagon with canvas over the top.
(Photo courtesy of Mist-Birkenfeld
Historical Society calendar 2000, Louise
Green supplied the photo)
According to Louise, there
were only three families who have
lived in the home before the Greens; the
Magnussens, Garlocks and Ruby and
Cap Serby. [I have found out since Part
1 of the history of this 1870s Victorian
home was published in Vernonia’s Voice
that there is another owner to add to the
list. A lovely local Vernonia resident,
Clair Devine called me after reading
about this home. His parents, Sam and
Ellen Devine were owners from the
early 50s to mid 60s as a retired couple
between the Garlocks and the Serbys, is
what Clair told me. Clair and his family
lived in Mist at the time, right near the
Mist Store long before it burned down.]
Louise continues with her and
Orin’s history: “When we moved into
the house, we already had ideas of what
we
would
do to make
a
lovely
home from
this sagging,
rotting big
bundle
of
potential.
The
first
w i n t e r
here
was
wicked. We
had
raised
the
house
immediately to build a new foundation
and an early snow gave us harsh reality
(about 20” deep and long-lasting). We
had black plastic all around the bottom
of the building and it was mighty chilly.
The water pipes froze and broke. Orin
spent many hours under the house
cussing and soldering pipes just to have
it freeze up behind him. I used much
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of my days crawling under with him to
bring ‘that wrench, you know what one’,
as well as packing buckets of water from
the frozen-over creek.”
Part of the time the electricity
was
off
so
Louise
cooked on
an oil stove
in the living
room. “Got
rid of that
sad old stove
before we did
much else,”
says Louise.
The Green’s
could tell as
they took old
linoleum off some floors that there had
been brown and orange carpet on the
living room floor, and seven, yes seven,
layers of various types of floor covering
in the bathroom downstairs. “We had
indeed found us a neat old home,”
comments Louise.
Most all of the walls and ceilings
were layered with old newspapers and
vintage wallpaper.
Good
reading if one is Norwegian!
They did save and use some
of the newspaper
when
decoupage was just what they
wanted to use as background
for the Magnussen family
pictures. They have a
Saturday morning front
page from an 1870 edition
of the Oregonian on the wall
behind these family photos
as an example.
As described on the
back of the calendar: “Magnussen hand-
sawed and hand-planed lumber from
[this] tree which he used in additions to
his house. Some lumber may have been
used when he and others built the Mist
Church in 1892 [which also still stands].
Origin of photograph unknown as well
as the others in the photo [two men
inside the tree, one on top of the horse].”
Louise goes on to explain:
“We have renovated the home with the
goal to honor the hand sawn lumber in
the house, its handmade front door and
the old windows with bubble in them.
All in all we have tried to re-dress this
grand old farmhouse using as much that
was useable and adding only items that
enhances her age, giving her more years
and more history.”
Gayle Rich-Boxman is a broker
with Vernonia Realty, specializing in
Fishhawk Lake Recreation Club. You
can reach her direct at 503-755-2905 or
by email at richbox@centurytel.net.
Bingo at the Grange...
takes a summer vacation
We will restart
in the fall.
Thanks to all
who came
to play.
Have a great
summer!
S A L O N
Karin Davenport, Owner/Stylist
ide
v
pro rnet
w
n o I n te
e
W DS L
s t o We
ck no
ba w
tte
rie
s
aga s
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