820 and 828 Grand Ave
While we think of the 1920s as a time when clothes and lifestyles were modernizing, homes built in this decade were mostly of traditional design. The Kane and Harcus homes at 820 and 828 Grand are no exception, each a blend of period styles, with elegant leaded stained-glass windows and arched doorways. Built in 1928, each home had over 4,700 square feet. In 1930 each was assessed at $25,000. Placing the homes back from the street created an estate-like feel and also maximized their splendid water views to the west. A shared round driveway united the two homes.
Lawrence Kane and William Harcus started Kane & Harcus, Printers and Lithographers, in 1908. By the time these homes were built, their business was thriving and its success continues even into the present day. There was a family bond as well since Mary Kane was William Harcus’ sister.
Grandson, Ross Kane, (active in local government, social services and a partner with his wife Helen in Anabel’s Framing), wrote a novel based on his own and his mother’s memories. In the Prologue to And Wasn’t it Grand: Love and Prohibition on Puget Sound, Ross wrote of his father’s parents:
They lived in this big, old house out in the very north end of Everett. Thinking back, it was a house filled with sunlight, with beautiful woodwork and antique furniture. More often than not, you got a slice of blackberry pie for breakfast, along with your bacon and eggs. Waxed wood floors were covered with oriental carpets collected from their travels. Interesting paintings, framed photographs, and, oddest of all, there were two grand pianos.
We were always at their house for Christmas Eve. Dinner was always roast duck. Bread sauce. Champagne, even a taste for all of us kids, before dinner, and red wine with the duck.
The huge collection of framed photographs documented my grandparent’s extensive travels to Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong. I remember a picture of them both sitting on camels, with pyramids in the background. They seemed to visit Paris quite often.
Occasionally, during an illness at my home, or when our parents went on a trip without us kids, I got to go and to stay with my grandparents, for a few days or a week. They had a neat yard to play in, it was really big, although there wasn’t much to do in the evenings except read or listen to music. They never owned a television.
They did have those pianos. The one in the living room, downstairs, the Chickering, was smaller. You could goof around on that one. Either one of them would help you pick out a tune … But you weren’t allowed to play the big Steinway upstairs. You weren’t even supposed to go into the so-called ‘piano room’, unless invited, although we did.
It was odd. I’d stay overnight, and when I woke up in the morning, I always knew where I could find them. Up, dressed, sitting on the piano bench, side by side, not playing, just quietly talking and drinking coffee. I mentioned this once to my father, after an overnight.
“I don’t know,” he said. “They were doing that most mornings when I was your age. Go figure”.
If you want to read Ross Kane’s novel, you can purchase it through Amazon or borrow it from the Everett Public Library.
