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When I started Inside Spokane, I looked on Airbnb for cool houses in my city that I could feature. "The Perry Canary" instantly caught my eye. A cheery yellow Craftsman in Spokane's Perry District, it was recently renovated with lots of love and attention to detail. The owners preserved the original character as much as possible, painted the walls a bright white, and added colorful decor that makes it feel special and inviting. I especially love the bathrooms and kitchen, which incorporate modern amenities with old-fashioned charm, like a claw foot tub, ceramic hex tile, and painted dressers turned into bathroom vanities. I went over to take a few photos last month, and I asked the owners for the backstory behind the house, and how they ended up renting it on Airbnb.
1. How did you end up in Spokane?
We moved to Spokane from Seattle on February 1, 2018 with full intentions of settling down there. We had purchased the home in December 2017 and started renovations, but when it became clear it was going to take MUCH longer than we expected, we decided to move to Spokane and live out of Airbnbs until the house was livable. After two Airbnbs and a week with a neighbor we barely knew, we moved in...but honestly, we shouldn't have. It was basically glamping for a while. We didn't have a toilet until 5pm the day we moved in, and didn't have a shower until 2pm the next day. We didn't have kitchen countertops or the kitchen sink or a washer and dryer until a week later. You get the picture :)
2. Tell me a little about the house!
It was built in 1907! We uncovered a lot of cool things during all the demo: pictures and postcards from 1906, newspapers from the 1940's, coins from the 1800's, etc. We also found the brick that we left exposed going up the staircase that was part of the kitchen- must have been some sort of brick oven. The man that lived there before us lived there for 65 years (until he died). He bought the extra lot next door 40 years ago and planted a garden and tons of flowers- last spring and summer we were continually surprised by the flowers that popped up. I've heard this house was the place they always had extended family gatherings. He and his wife raised their 5 children there. He became a widower 20ish years before he died, and maintained the dozen rose bushes as a way to maintain his wife's memory (her middle name was Rose). Also, the neighbors next to the extra lot has lived there for almost 50 years!
3. What's your favorite thing about the house?
My favorite room is the kitchen. If you could have seen it before you would really appreciate it now! I also really love all of the brick we uncovered and exposed!
4. What improvements did you make?
Oh man, we literally gutted it down to the studs, knocked down walls, opened up the staircase (it used to have a door and was super steep and vary narrow), redid the upstairs in order to add a master bath (there used to be just one bigger hall bath) and closet. I love the secret kids room that used to just be unused attic space. The upstairs and den downstairs also had dropped ceilings with the tile (like in office buildings), so we raised those up and added all new dry wall. There was wood paneling everywhere!! We tore it all down except for the 2 smaller bedrooms (but painted those white of course). We took out shag carpet that was in every room (even the bathrooms), another layer of skinny wood floors, and redid the beautiful original 1907 hardwoods. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but you get the picture. It was a big project that ended up taking 8 months!
4. When did you decide to rent this on Airbnb? Did that affect any of the decisions you made?
We were planning to settle down there so all the decisions were very much made with the vision that we were going to live there. Towards the end of the summer as the renovations were wrapping up (however, we still have a good bit more we wanted/still want to do), my husband and I were both honest with each other that we really missed Seattle. Then, literally days later I lost my job that I was allowing me to work remotely. I work in the software industry, so there are better job opportunities for me in Seattle. Also, my husband was traveling to Seattle two days a week for work, so in the end we decided it made sense for our hearts and our jobs to move back. However, we couldn't bring ourselves to sell the house after pouring our heart and soul into it. We also made some great friends in Spokane, so we decided to Airbnb it so that we could still come back and visit. In fact, we're going for Spring Break in a couple weeks! Also, during our first few months in Spokane I learned that there really wasn't a ton of Airbnb options while I was frantically trying to find places to stay, so I figured it would do well- and it has! We've had a ton of guests from all over the world already with lots of cool reasons for staying. We've had a family from China, a couple from New Zealand, then people from every corner of North America.
It's beautiful, isn't it? I think they did a great job with their renovations, staying true to the original character of this old house.
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Great story!