Van Valey House, 2130 Colby Ave
Everett Register of Historic Places
Everett Herald reporter Ben Watanabe said it well when recently describing the nearly 110- year old Van Valey house: “The pale green home on 22nd Street and Colby has stories to tell,” stories ranging from its time as a residence, a restaurant, a Red Cross office, a day care center, an elderly care facility, a city of Everett property and today a part of the Everett Museum of History.
Albert Louis Van Valey arrived in Everett in 1896 as a young man, when the city was struggling economically from a severe national depression. Eventually, he set up a bottling works and began selling various drinks including carbonated soda water, syrups in all flavors, and Cascade Ginger Ale. When good economic times returned during the first decade of the 20th Century , the A. L. Van Valey Bottling Works prospered too. It’s a good guess that some of Van Valey’s riches can be attributed to state and local prohibition, the early Dry Years, which likely sent folks on the search for quality legal drinks.
It was time to build a house. Choosing a prime corner lot at 2130 Colby, just north of the newly built Everett High School, the Van Valeys – A.L., wife Ellen, and daughters Ruth and Esther – built a 2,700 square foot American Foursquare home, a design influenced by the Prairie Style, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. A feature of the Foursquare was its excellent use of natural light, definitely present in the Van Valey home, which includes a large sunroom. The two-story house has hardwood ceilings with ornate panels and beveled and stained glass windows. Over the years, the home’s beautiful quarter-sawn cedar and oak trim and panels has remained, as well as the structure’s basic design. The house cost $5,000 to build. Outside the home is an attached porte-cochere, a covered structure for entry from the driveway. On the front lawn is an elderly Yellow Poplar tree, a commanding presence, and one of only a few of its kind in Everett.
A civic-minded family, the Van Valeys hosted recitals, readings and civic group meetings in the home, events covered regularly in local newspapers. Both daughters were performers, Esther once dancing as a vaudeville performer in New York.
The biggest changes to the Van Valey house came when it was made into a restaurant with modernizing features to the kitchen and some changes to the front window.
Ed and Betty Morrow purchased the home to use as their residence in 1979. Both were educators and Ed also served on the Everett City Council and was a Port Commissioner as well as a board member of Everett’s Historical Commission. Once again the house was a residence and the Morrows began to restore it to its original beauty, reaching out to the Van Valey daughters for advice, stories and artifacts. One of the items the sisters gave to the Morrows was a wood bed frame used by their family in the house. The Morrows frequently held meetings and parties in the home.
In 2002 the Morrows gifted the Van Valey house to the City of Everett in hopes that one day it would become a museum. The city cared for the property for nearly 20 years, using it for arts events, storage and rental space, but when budget restraints made it difficult to maintain, the city transferred the Van Valey home to the Everett Museum of History, in accordance with the Morrow’s contractual wishes.
Today museum staff and volunteers have opened the Van Valey home to the public. They recently repainted the exterior and have decorated the interior with period furniture and artifacts. Its updated modern kitchen still holds an original charm. With the help of Anna Marie Lawrence, daughter of former Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson, an upstairs bedroom has been converted to a replica office of the late senator and contains the desk he used when serving as Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor, a position that helped elevate Jackson in his political career. The home today has stained glass windows from Belgium and a sculpture from France, two elegant matching chandeliers in the living and dining rooms. The Morrows added a period area rug under the dining room table. While the basic furnishings will remain the same, the museum will feature changing special exhibits.
In 2023 the Van Valey home is open from 11am to 4pm Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Call 425-257-6300 to arrange special tours.
Written by Margaret Riddle
Sources:
Julie Muhlstein, “Exhibit of Tiffany-style lamps to be held at Historic Home of Bottler,” Everett Herald, May 15, 2014;
Ben Watanabe, “Historic Van Valey House Now Open to Public Tours as Museum, Everett Herald, October 6, 2022;
Jack O’Donnell, David Chrisman, and Steve Fox writings for Historic Everett and research from Jack O’Donnell.