Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Why you
should take a
vacation and
how to do it
By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL
AP Business Writer
I
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian via AP
Afternoon light hits the Flavel house, located at 15th Street and Franklin Avenue in Astoria.
Historic Flavel house opens its doors to the public
By ERICK BENGEL
EO Media Group
ASTORIA — The 115-year-old
Flavel mansion, known for decades
as a house of mystery and a symbol
of faded glory, will open to the
public in August.
Greg Newenhof, who bought
the iconic residence at 15th Street
and Franklin Avenue last year
and plans to make it his home, is
hosting two fundraising tours with
Clatsop County Historical Society
Executive Director McAndrew
Burns and John Goodenberger, a
local historian and expert in historic
preservation.
Some people have waited many
years to see the interior, Burns said.
Only the basement will be closed
to visitors, reported The Daily
Astorian.
“We’ve had people talking
about: ‘We used to dare each other
as kids to go up and touch the
front door and run away,”’ he said.
“We knew the interest factor was
huge here. And for (Newenhof) to
basically give us this gift, and allow
us to have a signi¿ cant fundraiser
because of this house — that’s
incredibly generous.”
Built in 1901 for Capt. George
Conrad Flavel, the house strad-
dles the Victorian and Colonial
Revival periods and was added to
the National Register of Historic
Places in 1986.
In the early 1990s, Mary Louise
Flavel, the captain’s granddaughter,
and her now-deceased mother and
brother, Florence and Harry, aban-
doned Astoria and the family home.
Boarded up and neglected,
the house became a community
curiosity, and the property a neigh-
borhood blight.
Finally, Newenhof, co-owner
of City Lumber Co., purchased
the property for $221,901 in cash
six months after Mary Louise’s
conservator put it on the market
to help end a conÀ ict with the city
over code violations.
Time warp
Newenhof dismisses the idea
that the house is haunted.
But, with a dumbwaiter in the
kitchen, sinks in every bedroom,
pastel paints and À oral wallpaper,
old-fashioned cabinetry, small
collections of antique books and
household items dating from the
19th century through the 1980s, it’s
hard not to feel the presence of the
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian via AP
Forgotten items remain in the attic of the Flavel house in Astoria. The building is opening to the
public for the fi rst time in decades.
past.
Though the attic has been largely
cleared out, there are still artifacts
of the Flavel lifestyle: a vintage
bureau, a pile of rusty box springs,
moth-eaten clothes hanging in the
closet, and a broken bassinet that
cradled the Flavel children.
The class distinctions of turn-of-
the-20th-century America appear
in the architecture: The woodwork
in the family area tends to be rather
ornate, whereas, in the servants’
quarters, the door casings and stair-
case are À at and ordinary.
“Servants had just the basic
stuff,” Newenhof said. “The family
had the fancier stuff.”
The tours offer a chance to see
the progress Newenhof has made
toward ¿ xing up the long-unkempt
but structurally sturdy house.
Inside, he has, up to the second
À oor, restored the electricity and
installed new plumbing. He dry
walled the bedroom ceilings,
rewired the original light ¿ xtures,
replaced window glass and frames
and set up a new gas furnace in the
basement. He is refurbishing the
stair railings and balusters.
Outside, he put new cedar
shingles on the roof, rebuilt the
chimneys, replaced a section of the
porch railing and, more recently,
built a fresh set of steps leading to
the portico.
Newenhof said he works on
the project a couple of hours most
nights, and often all day on the
weekends. He thinks he may be at
it the rest of his life.
“People ask me when I’m
moving in, I say next week,”
Newenhof said. “And also: I’m
6-foot-2 and have a full head of
hair.”
‘Bringing it back’
Across the street lives former
City Planner Rosemary Johnson
and her husband, Curt. The couple
moved into their 15th Street home
in 1992, shortly after the Flavels
skipped town, but remembers the
family returning on occasion.
“They would come back
periodically and go through the
house,” Johnson said. “In fact, they
would call my kids and ask if there
were any police hanging out in the
neighborhood before they came. It
was really weird. But they would
just go in and check; they wouldn’t
stay long.”
Johnson, who has toured the
house with her husband, reckons
that the last time a signi¿ cant
segment of the public was allowed
into the mansion was probably
when Mary Louise or her mother
threw a dinner party there.
Newenhof, she said, is
improving the community.
“Instead of just saying, ‘This
is my private house, I’ll do what I
want’ — I mean, he could; he could
just say, ‘This is my home’ — but
instead, he’s opening it up,” she
said. “I think it’s a fabulous idea,
and just exactly what I would
expect out of Greg.”
The ¿ rst tour — a private event
that has already sold out — is Aug.
13 and will feature a special presen-
tation by Goodenberger.
The second, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Aug. 14, will be a self-guided
public tour and costs $25 per
person, or $10 for historical society
members.
Burns said that, as an Astorian
and a lover of its history, he’s
grateful that it’s Newenhof who
bought the house.
“Greg has respected the house,”
he said. “(He’s) bringing it back to
life and that takes a very special
person to accept that challenge.”
t’s summer time and the
living is ... not so easy for
some.
American workers have
been taking less and less
vacation over the past 15
years. A study by Project: Time
Off found that in 2015, more
than half of American workers
left vacation time unused.
If you are among this
unlucky group, consider our
tips on why you should take a
break and how to do it.
RECOGNIZE THE
PERK6 Vacation is a chance
to rest your mind and your
body from the demands of
work.
Doug Walker, manager of
HR services at Insperity, said
that these psychological and
physiological perks can help
an employee feel refreshed and
more inspired at work and at
home.
However, he is quick
to point out that a stressful
vacation, such as one ¿ lled
with work emails, may end up
leaving a worker depleted. He
suggests taking a real break
that has no work duties or very
limited ones, and allows for
some tranquility.
“It’s in stillness that life’s
sediment settles and the
murkiness becomes clear,”
Walker said.
CONSIDER THE
H8RDLE The United
States is the only developed
country that does not require
employers to provide vacation
time, according to the Center
for Economic and Policy
Research. But workers are
often entitled to days off that
they simply aren’t taking.
Project: Time Off found 658
million days went unused last
year among those surveyed,
the highest ever since the
travel industry group began
measuring it. Of those, 222
million days are simply lost
— they are days that cannot be
rolled over, paid out or banked
for any other bene¿ t.
Employees cite a variety of
reasons for forgoing vacation
time — they worry about
returning to a mountain of
work or feel no one else can
do their job. Some cannot
afford it and others simply
want to show their complete
dedication.
But Walker points out there
are very few true emergencies
at work, and that in most cases
someone else can handle it or a
problem that arises can wait till
you return. And taking a break
can make you a better worker.
“It’s important to remind
yourself of that,” Walker said.
:ALK THE :ALK If
you are the boss, the pressure
is on you to take a break.
By actually taking vacation,
you signal to employees
that it’s OK to do so, too.
Communicate with them
about vacation policies and
encourage them to take time
off as needed.
“A company’s success is
all about the degree to which
your employees are engaged
and effective,” Walker said. “If
they aren’t engaged because
they are burnt out or they
aren’t effective because they
are burnt out, they need a
break.”
By MELISSA D’ARABIAN
Associated Press
Serving a couple of vegetables every
night at dinner is a great strategy for
families with picky eaters.
Offering young kids a choice
(“Would you like green beans or
parsnips or both tonight?”) gives
them a small but important sense
of ef¿ cacy, while also helping to
demystify ingredients that are served
(non-threateningly) at the table. And
for the rest of us, eating a couple of
vegetables with each meal is a great
opportunity to get in the variety of
nutrients that keeps us healthy.
But two vegetables a night adds up
quickly, and we can ¿ nd ourselves a little
lost for creative preparations, especially
when time is short.
One of my favorite ways to cook
veggies quickly (even thicker root
veggies) is the pan-saute/steam method.
It’s quick and melds the best of sautéing
(a little fat and À avor) and steaming
(speedy cooking without bland boiling).
Start by adding a little fat to a saute
pan. I love coconut oil for the healthy
bene¿ ts and slightly nutty and exotic
notes it adds the veggies, but any neutral
oil will do.
Saute the veggies for a couple of
minutes, adding in whatever spices or
aromatics you have around the house
that your family loves. You can go
simple with shallots or garlic or more
complex with curry paste or Chinese
¿ ve-spice powder.
Next, add liquid — water, broth,
citrus juice — and cover to steam for
a few minutes. Once the veggies are
crisp-tender from the steam, uncover the
pan and allow the liquid to evaporate,
leaving the veggies in a tasty and simple
glaze. Top with some kind of acid —
lime juice or tangy plain yogurt both
work well with a variety of À avors.
And the ¿ nal touch? Something
crunchy (like pumpkin seeds or chopped
nuts) and something fresh like chopped
basil, cilantro or mint. The perfect veggie
plan for weeknights.
———
Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian
is an expert on healthy eating on a budget.
MOROCCAN SPICED CARROTS
WITH YOGURT SAUCE
6tart tR ¿ niVK 15 minutes
6erYingV 4
• 1 pound baby carrots, peeled and greens
removed
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon ras el hanout
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
<RgXrt 6aXce
• 1/4 cup plain Greek lowfat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons toasted chopped walnuts
• torn mint leaves for garnish
Heat a large saute pan over medium heat.
Cook the mustard seed in coconut oil until
fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the cumin, ras el
Melissa d’Arabian via AP
CarrRtV gR IrRm bRring tR ]eVt\ aIter a YiVit tR 0RrRccR
hanout, paprika, granulated garlic and stir. Add
the carrots and salt and stir to coat carrots with
spices, and cook until the spices are deep in
color, stirring, about 3 minutes.
Then deglaze the pan with stock and
lime juice. Cover the pan and let steam for 3
minutes, then uncover and cook until liquid
evaporates, another 2 minutes.
Meanwhile make the sauce by mixing
yogurt, lime juice, smoked paprika and salt in
a small bowl. Lay the carrots on a platter and
spoon some yogurt over the carrots. Top with
walnuts and mint leaves to serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 97 calories;
35 calories from fat; 4 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g
trans fats); 1 mg cholesterol; 294 mg sodium; 13
g carEohydrate; 3 g ¿ Eer; g sugar; 3 g protein.