by Margaret Riddle
The Ruckers 1905-1923
A commanding presence atop Rucker Hill, the Rucker/Walton Mansion was one of Everett’s first properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1904 for the pioneering Rucker family, Jane Morris Rucker, her sons Wyatt and Bethel and Bethel’s wife Ruby.
Bethel came to Seattle from Ohio in 1886, followed by his mother and brother when Washington became a state in 1889. Scouting around the region, the Ruckers purchased land at Port Gardner Bay, planning to build a town. When wealthy East Coast investors created Everett, the Ruckers joined their plans. By the early 1900s, Everett was a growing industrial city and the Rucker family became wealthy from investments in banking, real estate and lumbering.
The Ruckers were well positioned to build a mansion and they spared no expense, choosing a lot with an incredible 180 degree view of the Everett waterfront, Port Gardner Bay and the Olympic and Cascade mountains. Construction began in 1904 with family moving in the following year.
The house style is a mix of Italian Villa, Queen Anne and Georgian Revival design, with a three-layer brick masonry exterior and beveled windows made with zinc instead of lead. The original roof was slate and the home included a stable and carriage house, which over time were adapted to new uses.
W. & J. Sloane of New York City designed the interior using richly finished wood paneling and silk brocade and cut velvet wall coverings. Five fireplaces, each with a distinctly individual style, were located throughout the house. The elegant entry hall had a coffered ceiling of quarter-sawn white oak.
The 13,000 sq. foot house has four floors and was built for family living, business and entertaining with a reception room, a parlor, a smoking room, a dining room, a card/billiard room, a library, several baths and six bedrooms, plus two kitchens and a ballroom on the top floor. An elevator was added since Jane used a wheelchair. She died in the home in 1907. Clearly the home was the most sumptuous in the city at that time.
The Waltons 1923-1959
In 1923 the Ruckers traded the mansion to lumber mill owner Clyde Walton and his wife Nora for $32,000 and the Walton’s home at 2601 Hoyt. The Waltons lived in the mansion until 1959. Clyde, being a horseman, renovated the stables and enjoyed riding from Rucker Hill to Forest Park.
Other owners who followed have continued to preserve the charm of the original home while making changes for livability and occasionally the home has been open to the public for touring. The biggest challenge in recent years has been building a retaining wall to stabilize an eroding hillside bank
The Rucker/Walton Mansion remains one of Everett’s most loved homes. Local photographer J. A. Juleen carried his special CirKut panorama camera to the top floor balcony in 1909 to photograph the 180 degree vista he saw from that location. That panorama negative and print are archived in the Everett Public Library’s Northwest Room collections.
To find more information and photos about the Rucker Mansion and historic homes in the Rucker Hill District, check Historic Everett’s Self-Guided Tours online at historiceverett.org.
