Today I read Randy’s post about how he found information (including pictures) of the home his mother and grandmother lived in by searching for the address in Google, I was inspired – and I knew exactly what home I wanted to search for.
Last month, my Great Auntie Bub (Elizabeth Harney Pieren) passed away. She lived a long and full life, but it still has shaken my family up quite a bit. We all have so many wonderful memories of her, and we are all so blessed to have known her.
And all of us know her house. It was the house that my great grandparents bought. It is in the Maple Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington on a corner lot. It is a two story house with only one bathroom (only a tub – no shower). It has one bedroom downstairs, and 3 upstairs (you have to walk through one to get to the next, since there aren’t any hallways upstairs).
Even though I am now a young adult, I still can’t put my finger on what makes that house so magical. Maybe it has something to do with the history of the house (built in 1911) and the variety of people who have lived in the house throughout it’s history (up to 17 at one point!). Or maybe it is the garden that used to be outside that my Great Uncle Chris maintained while he was alive. Maybe it was the all the old clothing, beds, photo albums, and odds and ends that could be found upstairs. Truthfully, I think it is a combination of all of these.
My cousins and I were only allowed upstairs during the summer, when that house would host the Annual Ping Pong Tournament and party. My uncles would fly up from California for a few weeks and sleep in the upstairs bedroom. My cousins and I would spend hours up there – exploring the old vanity (which had more bottles of perfume than a department store), exploring old coats (we found money in there once!), or just using our imaginations.
We would pretend that we were top secret spies and we were to protect a government party. We would pretend that we worked in a salon or that we were fashion designers. But the best game of all was hide and seek (the closets seemed like the never-ending wardrobe from that book, Narnia)
Point is, this house means a lot to me and my family. It has been years since I’ve seen it in person but I want share what it looks like. Click here to see a picture of the house, thanks to realtor.com
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Posted in Family Spotlight: Harney