SEATTLE — Community efforts to save the nearly century-old Stone Cottage in West Seattle are finally paying off weeks before the home was scheduled to be demolished as the home has been successfully moved into storage at the Port of Seattle.
Members of Save the Stone Cottage have been working with city leaders and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society for the last two years to preserve the home after news spread it was slated for condominium development.
Organizers say they were initially in talks with Seattle Parks and Recreation to find a home for the cottage until COVID-19 slowed the process down.
Seeing how much the cottage meant to the community, the condominium developer gave the group $20,000 to help move the home into storage until a long-term solution could be found.
"People know this cottage, they know this unique building, and because they know it, they have a special place in their heart for it. Maybe they don't even know the story of it, but they know it, and it's part of their day, their route if they're going along here, and it's part of their history," said Deb Barker who has been among the volunteers leading the effort to save the cottage.
The Stone Cottage was built during the Great Depression by Eva Falk and her mother using 15,000 stones from the beach near Alki Point Lighthouse.
Falk lived there until her death in 1997 at the age of 92.
A parade and ceremony scheduled for Tuesday at 11 p.m. prior to the cottage being moved has been canceled due a COVID-19 case that's come up with the house-moving company, according to event organizers. People are still invited to come and watch the move take place but are encouraged to stay inside their vehicles and distanced from the moving staff.
Now that the cottage is safely in storage, the goal is to move the cottage again in a few years to a public place that can be enjoyed by everyone.