There’s work going on up at the Stoner house on the corner of Territory and Oysterville Roads.  It looks as though the siding is being replaced on the little one-story southwest portion of the house.  And maybe the windows, too.  I noticed the activity a few days ago.

I can’t really remember how those windows looked before.  I’m pretty sure they were different in my childhood, but when did they change?  Just now or years ago?  Like so many other structures in Oysterville, changes have happened gradually over the years.  In the case of the Stoner house, the most dramatic changes have happened on the east elevation – the part of the house that is only readily seen from the bayside.

Those alterations have mostly occurred during the last decade or so.  From the time of its construction in 1905 until early in the 2000s, the house gradually aged and was repaired and patched as needed, but no substantive changes were made.  By the time the current owners came along, Oysterville had long since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the residents had developed a set of Design Guidelines.  Those Guidelines lay out the dos and don’ts that must be followed for new construction and for any exterior renovations to the old structures.

The requirements of modern-day life, have occasionally prompted structural adjustments – some subtle, some not – to various homes in the village.  Plans for small changes are approved by a ‘field review’ by members of the Design Review Board, a county-sanctioned group made up of village property owners and an architect.  For bigger projects, public meetings are held.  The last one was for Tucker and Carol’s addition which is in mid-construction as we speak.

I took a look at my “Structures of Oysterville” photo album – a motley collection of old and current pictures of village buildings, some of which don’t even exist anymore.  I was trying to jog my memory about that corner of the Stoner house.  How did it used to look, anyway?  As is often the case, the photos I have from years past weren’t taken from just the right angle to make comparison possible.  So… I am left wondering.

I’ve always known that my visual memory is less than stellar.  And changes happen so gradually that I often don’t notice at all.  I look forward to finding out more from the Huttons who own the house these days and are likely to be here more frequently now that the weather is improving.  Meanwhile, perhaps someone else with a better memory for those gradual changes will remember what the house looked like ‘before.’  For the record.