HomeMy WebLinkAbout622 S GRANT AVE - CORRESPONDENCE - 7/18/1998July 18, 1998
Pam and Jack Wyman:
This is our understanding of the history of the house at 622 South Grant.
We had always thought that it was built in 1934-35; the county evidently
thinks it was built in 1940.
We bought and occupied.the house in June 1975, from the Leland (and Bonnie?)
Balthazor family. They had 4(?) sons in high school, so were using the
entire house as a single unit, as we did. However, he had done some
remodeling,(himself - he was supposed to be a high school shop teacher).
The basement still contained several signs that it was built as an apartment.
There was a door at the top of the stairs, to seprate the upstairs. There
was a door at the base of the stairs into the apartment, which consisted of
bathroom, bedroom, hallway, living room with fireplace, and kitchen. The
water and drain pipes for the kitchen were still on the walls, although the
room had the cabinets removed. The walls throughout the basement were
stylized plaster over concrete, in the same swirl finish pattern as that
used throughout the upstairs.
After that, we got to know Miss Agnes Lilly, who had lived next door at
618 South Grant for at least 10 years. She told us that a widow had lived
at 622 before the Balthazors, that she rented the basement apartment
to college students, and that she preferred older male students.
It had always been our understanding that the house was built similarly
to several other houses on South Grant -- such as the house next door at
626 -- to have a basement apartment to be rented for supplemental income.
The house at 626 next door is very similar construction, swirled finish
plaster walls, arched doorways, and 2 living units - upstairs and downstairs.
Dean and Eva Wallace