Edyth's Houses Part 2 - 3219 N 32nd St

At the end of the alley behind their house at 3202 N 33rd Street in Tacoma was a large wooded lot that Edyth had probably had her eye on since she and Arthur moved there in 1936. They had no doubt seen the property while they were still in the market, and may have even considered building there instead. The trees would have appealed to Edyth, and the steep ravine of Puget Creek was already a city park and unlikely to ever be developed. In fact, the adjacent land west and north of the property has since become a protected natural area, which would have made Edyth very happy.

Having a skilled carpenter (William Zaytzef) as a lodger probably factored into their decision to start building again, and no doubt the improvements they'd made to their current property enabled them to borrow what they needed to get started. It was a lot of land, twice as big as their current lot, though the northern half was steep terrain and unsuitable for building. Two adjacent parcels on the western edge were undeveloped and were likely to remain so. With Puget Park and what would become the Puget Creek Natural Area to the north and west, the property appears almost boundless.

Satellite view of Edyth's first house, at 3202 N 33rd Street (left), and the large wooded lot at 3219 N 32nd where her second house was built in 1941

Topographic and street plats of the properties at 3202 N 33rd and 3219 N 32nd, Tacoma

The lot wasn't empty when Arthur and Edyth purchased it, and the original house, really nothing more than a tar paper shack, turns up in a few of the construction photos.

The simple house that had originally occupied the property was left standing through most of the construction. This is the best view we have of it. Our vantage is northward from what will become the grand, colonnaded porch.

Unlike the house at 3202 N 33rd, we do have several pictures of this house's construction. It was a major undertaking. The house is enormous, nearly 5000 square feet, with seven bedrooms and three bathrooms. It was big enough for everyone, including Arthur, to have rooms of their own, with two additional bedrooms for guests and lodgers (or perhaps a footman and an upstairs maid). It's hard to know what Arthur's role in all this was. He was, to me, a man of few needs. He seemed happy with a small room that contained only his bed, his writing desk, his books, his tennis racket (thanks to cousin Heidi for that detail) and, later, a small black & white television set. The boys would have been happy with the tar paper shack the house replaced, and would be spending most of their time in the woods leading down to Puget Creek, and (if the stories are true) skinny-dipping from the piers and pilings of the Dickman Mill.

David and Richard (and an unknown but a very clean carpenter) by the east foundation wall

Framing of the first floor, looking south from the N 33rd St side.

Construction of second floor, looking east. The house at 3202 N 33rd would, if visible, be in the upper left.

The roof line of the original house is visible through the opening, looking north from the side of the house that faces N 32nd Street. The opening on the left will be a recessed porch.

The western wall with the second story framed up. Note the old clothesline from the original house in lower left.

N 32nd Street side, looking northwest.

N 33rd Street side, looking southeast.

The architect, Edyth Grohndorff, apparently happy with the progress.

Construction was completed in 1941, and the 1942 Tacoma City Directory has the family at their new address: 3219 North 32nd Street. One day I'll work up the ambition to pay the current owners a visit and see the house for myself. I should also try to dig up the construction documents, if they were archived, as well as the sales contracts, tax records, etc. We were told that the house even got a write-up in the Tacoma News Tribune, and one day I'll have to make the necessary trip to the Tacoma Public Library to find it.

But for now, all I have is what I've been able to gather online, some old pictures, and the one memory my mother had of the house: that Richard's bedroom was under the dormer on the third level -- information which she was quick to add had come to her second-hand.



The house before the yard was landscaped

Some landscaping was still being done in 1946.

The colonnaded porch

Edyth held nothing back. The ceiling in the entry is as high as the columns on the front porch or, more accurately, the back porch; the street address is on N 32nd, on level with the roof line, and the colonnaded porch looks out in the direction of N 33rd, some 50 feet below. Access is from the alley between N 32nd and N 33rd and the house sits inconspicuously at its dead end, hidden behind trees, which seems a shame. Its grandeur was, I suppose, an affirmation of Edyth's ego, her need leave some sort of legacy. Her father was the only son of an only son, and Edyth's siblings were all girls with no interest in raising families of their own. If the Grohndorffs of De Pere, Wisconsin were to leave a mark, Edyth may have found herself alone with the means, and the talent, to achieve it.

The boys all grew to be men in this house, and by the time Edyth began work her third and final house in 1949, they'd all left pretty much left home.

Richard, on the slope leading down to the house from N 32nd Street.

Richard and Walker

Edyth

Richard in the alley  which leads to the house  between N 32nd and N 33rd Streets.

Richard, kicking up some dust. I think each of the boys had their own motorcycles for a awhile. 

The alley, as it looks today (2016)

The house, as it looks today (2016)