UNION, Wash. - When a dozen sailors volunteered to help restore a neglected Victorian mansion, they didn't think there'd be treasure hunting involved.
The 120-year-old McReavy House, donated in 2008 by the descendants of the town developer for public use, sits above Highway 106, facing Hood Canal. From it, the "father of Union City," John McReavy, oversaw his hotel, mill, store and dock. Today, the olive green fixer-upper is hidden by overgrowth, waiting for a nonprofit museum society to return it to glory.
But it needs help.
Enter the sailors from the Bangor-based Trident submarine USS Alabama's Blue Crew. Twelve strong twentysomethings can transform a place in a hurry.
On Thursday, they got distracted from pulling ivy and Scotch broom, yanking nails, hauling junk and chainsawing trees by a big, locked safe in the house's creepy basement.
Sailors, surrounded by spider webs, attacked the stout, black case by the light of a dangling bulb. They peeled back the steel and chipped through a concrete casing until they could reach an arm through. Out came an empty lockbox, and another box. Then handfuls of historic papers, dating to 1875. Deeds. Tax statements. Plat maps. A historic mother lode.
"All of their important stuff," Mike Fredson, the museum board president, said of the McReavy family as he thumbed through the yellowed, foot-high pile. It included the 1925 marriage license for McReavy's daughter Helen and Ludwig Anderson.
"It was interesting to see all that old stuff," said Casey Bolin, a petty officer second class from Oklahoma. "We were joking we were going to find some gold doubloons in there."
It was as good as gold to Fredson.
Jeff Hughes, a petty officer first class from San Diego, had rounded up the sailors. He visited the mansion in December, looking for paranormal activity, which is a hobby of his. (He said the ghost hunters heard a 10-minute conversation between two men that wasn't picked up on their equipment.)
The safe had been sitting undisturbed in the abandoned house, along with a mixture of antiques and junk, for decades. People respected the house as an icon and left it alone, Fredson said.
"That's the metaphor for this house," he said of the safe. "It's been sitting here and nobody's broken in and wrecked it. It's time to open it up."
A handwritten sign on a basement door reads: "Caution. Very large aggressive bats may fly out when this door is opened." It sounds like a scare tactic against trespassers, but the stairs inside are covered in guano (aka bat droppings). On the front door, another sign politely asks, "Please don't break into building! This door is very fragile and will be damaged if forced open. Thank you!"
Amazingly, the sign has been successful The place has only been vandalized once, Fredson said.
The property is a disaster, taken over by ornamentals and native plants that have grown up during the past 30 to 40 years. A excavator knocked down a stand of small maples, virtually carving out a view of Hood Canal right before the sailors' eyes.
Although much of its intricate woodwork remains, the home has been bastardized over the years with an ugly extension, flattened roof, sliding glass door and non-period horizontal windows, to name a few.
The interior remains in surprisingly good shape, featuring ornate molding, a gorgeous stairway, artistic hinges and a floor-to-ceiling upstairs bay window with a million-dollar view.
The museum society hopes to receive a $200,000 grant in a couple months for the renovation. Once that's complete, they want to set up an artist colony -- such as existed in the area from 1924 to 1952 -- from which to draw sustenance.
The sailors enjoyed the work.
"We got to tear down a tree, break into a safe, typical sailor day," summed up Andrew Cullather, a petty officer second class from Houston.
The place is so overgrown, you can see where vines are making their way in doors in very noticeable ways.
That said, Mike Fredson, the former home builder who heads up the foundation to save the house says, "It's remained in reasonably good condition, without serious leaks, and that's what we're lucky for."
But the foundation still needs help. While the sailors from the USS Alabama have made a huge and amazing amount of progress (you couldn't see Hood canal before they started ripping up the brambles) there is more needed.
"We need contributed materials," said Fredson. "We need labor. We continue to work at it."
They also need money.
McReavy House: www.mcreavyhouse.org
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