The Captain Stream House. Jsnuary 16, 2014
From the South
In Oysterville we are collectively jumping up and down for joy and tearing our hair out at the same time. To say that we all have mixed emotions right now would be understating the situation to the max. It’s the Captain Stream House that has had us totally conflicted and it’s new owners Martie and Steve who are the Hero-Saviors of the millenium!
It all began before Christmas when the Mack Brothers and Sons began to prepare the house for a new addition, approved a few months previously by the Oysterville Design Review Board. As the first boards of the house were removed, evidence of powderpost beetles came to light. Lots of evidence. Enough to make inspection of the rest of the house an urgent matter.
The Captain Stream House, built in 1878, is one of the iconic historic structures of the village. Although it was in sorry shape when Oysterville was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, it was subsequently given lots of TLC by a succession of owners – all on the surface, as it has turned out. Beneath the bright paint, the house had become a honeycomb of destruction – one of those “it’s only the paint holding it together” situations.
The Captain Stream House January 16, 2014
From the Northeast
At the time of Oysterville’s designation as a National Historic District, it was often said that the reason the big, old houses along the waterfront had survived was that they had been built of redwood which is fairly impervious to wood-eating insects. Redwood is not native to our area and, as a building material in the mid 1800s here, was an accident of fate more than anything else.
During those earliest days of Oysterville, there was no mill in the area, so those who could afford it had redwood lumber shipped up from San Francisco on the oyster schooners. Rather than coming north with holds empty and ready to fill up with oysters, the ships were loaded with everything “from fieldstone to redwood lumber and from top hats to prostitutes – anything the fancy of an oysterman could conjure up” – according to the oral history of the area.
Captain Stream apparently built late enough that he could get lumber from a “local” mill – probably located across the bay in the area of present-day Raymond or South Bend. He built his house of locally obtainable fir – most likely a more expedient and a cheaper choice, at least in the “short run.”
The Captain Stream House in 1990
The upshot of the powderpost beetle discovery, of course, was a work stoppage for several weeks while the county and state officials determined what options were available. The house, after all, is an important “contributing structure” to our status as a National Historic District; you can’t just tear it down and start over.
In the end, the powers-that-be decided that the house could be replicated without adversely affecting our National Historic status — as long as ‘some portion’ of the original is saved.
“Do-able,” said the Macks!
“Yay!” said Martie and Steve!
And so this week the original Captain Stream House is coming down, board by powdery board. We all take heart that the replica will begin soon. Lucky Oysterville that it’s the experienced, talented Macks doing the work! And most of all, we thank the heavens for Martie and Steve. Surely they are the very epitome of “good stewards!”
Glad the historic landmark could be saved. A story with suspense and a happy ending.