District offers free home

Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Chief Tay Robertson has a great solution for the high cost of housing. He wants to give a house away.

Robertson is willing to give the home that carries a great deal of Sisters history to anyone who is willing to preserve the structure. The home needs to be moved to make room for the expansion of the Sisters Fire Station.

There is a slight catch. The house needs to be moved from its present location next to the fire station, and the new owner will be responsible for all costs of the move and the cost of the land where the home will be relocated.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is being issued that will contain the details about the house and the procedure that is required to obtain the home. The RFP can be obtained through the fire district. The home is known as the Forest Service house. It has 928 square feet on the first floor, 520 square feet in the basement and 456 finished square feet of living space in the attic, according to chief Robertson.

The proposals will be evaluated on a weighted basis which is explained in detail within the RFP. Points are awarded for various factors, and the proposal that generates the highest number of points will receive the house. Proposals can be submitted by any government body, a not-for-profit organization, a for-profit business or members of the general public. When the contract is awarded, the winner will have six weeks to complete the removal of the house and clean up of the site.

The home has been a part of Sisters for many decades and has a rich history. It is important to chief Robertson that someone claims the home who will be willing to preserve this piece of old Sisters.

"Oral tradition says the house was constructed for the U.S. Forest Ranger and his family in the 1920-30s," said Robertson.

The expansion and renovation of the Sisters fire station was made possible by the passing of a bond issue during November's election. The ground is to be broken for the expansion in the near future, and the Forest Service house sits right in the way of the new wing that will be added to the existing building.

Chief Robertson believes that it will be a tragedy if the home is not taken and preserved by someone from the community, as the home has not only a rich history but is filled with wonderful period fixtures, doors and solid brass accessories.

"It would be a real loss to the community if the home had to be demolished or used in a burn-to-learn program," said the chief.

That will be the fate of the home if no one steps forward to save it.

Oral tradition not withstanding, the Forest Service house is a three-bedroom, one-bath, one-and-a-half-story wood frame house and according to the Deschutes County Assessor's records for the tax lot, the house was actually built in 1940. The wood single pane windows, window glass, approximately eight-inch wide wood horizontal siding and interior and exterior wood doors are original period pieces.

The interior of the home is neat and clean. Interior walls are the original lath and plaster painted white. Heating is forced air. The single main floor bathroom was remodeled around 1970. The galley kitchen was remodeled about the same time. The two first floor bedrooms have four-inch-wide fir tongue-and-groove flooring.

The hall, dining and living rooms have two-inch-wide oak flooring that is currently covered by carpet. A wooden staircase leads to a third bedroom and storage rooms upstairs. The walls and ceilings of the attic are finished in varnished pine paneling. Solid brass light switch plates and door hinges, crown molding, archways between rooms, walk-in closets and glass doorknobs are some of the period details. The home can be inspected by contacting the fire district and making an appointment.

Moving of the home will be simplified somewhat as the fire district plans to remove enough pine trees as a part of the planned site work for the fire station expansion to provide adequate room to allow for the removal of the building from the property.

Within four months of being awarded the house, whoever wins the contract for the Forest Service house must complete an application for a Sisters City Plan Amendment requesting that the Sisters City Council designate the house as a "Locally Designated Historic Resource." As a designated historic resource, the house will be protected by the Sisters Historic Preservation Code.

For more information call the fire district at 549-0771.