By Margaret Riddle
Everett Register of Historic Places
Before it was a neighborhood, Lowell was a town, predating Everett by three decades. Its economy first centered on lumbering, but its greatest transformation came with the arrival of Everett Pulp and Paper Company, a pivotal industry in Everett’s original 1890s development. While many industries built at this time closed in a national depression in 1893, the Lowell paper mill survived, lasting from the 1890s into the 1970s.
Many workers chose to live near the mill and most of the oldest surviving homes in Lowell today are millworkers cottages. The Killien house is one of the neighborhood’s grandest residences, built and lived in by the paper mill’s assistant superintendent Frank Killien, his wife Cora and their three children, Frank Jr., Lenore and William. The Killiens chose a 2,500 sq. foot Dutch Colonial Revival made-to- order home delivered and assembled on site in 1924 by the Stetson and Post Lumber Company of Seattle. Materials used were old growth timber, with shiplap sub flooring, oak tongue-and-groove flooring downstairs and pine flooring upstairs. Interior walls were of thick rock plaster.
The home’s exterior was cedar plank siding, with a front door of beveled glass and beveled side lights, and a sunrise transom. The original gambrel roof shape remains. Original plantings on the lot included fruit trees, a tropical garden and native plants. Inside the home, a large entry hall focused on a grand staircase. French doors on the right led to a formal dining room with a crystal chandelier. A swing door led to the kitchen. Left from the entrance hall was a second pair of French doors leading to a 16 x 23 foot living room. A third set of French doors led from the living room into a sunroom. A small door from the main hall led into a servant’s private room and half bath. The house doorbell could only be heard in the kitchen and servant’s quarters. Upstairs were four bedrooms with walk-in closets and a large bathroom. All of the upper hall wood was unpainted and richly varnished.
Both Frank and Cora died in the 1930s and are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. In 1939 the home was purchased by paper mill chemist Paul Smith, his wife Olga and their family. A son Harrison, “Smitty”, in his senior years, wrote a book called Smitty’s Stories, which contains a chapter titled “Growing Up in Lowell”.
Much of the home’s original character has remained, although modifications to the kitchen and garages were made in the 1950s. The Killien House was placed on the Everett Register of Historic Places in 2020 by owners Eleanor and Daniel Orme-Doutre who began repairing and restoring the interior and grounds, work that is not yet completed.
