Willitts purchase forestry property

Property that served as the Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters in Sisters for over 75 years has been sold. Bill and Zoe Willitts of Sisters have purchased the quarter-block of land and buildings at the intersection of West Jefferson Avenue and South Elm Street.

The property came on the market a year ago when the department relocated its facility to a 2.5-acre tract of land two miles east of Sisters on Highway 126. In 2011, a new building was constructed there housing an office, warehouse, and equipment storage.

"We had long outgrown that original site," stated current Sisters sub-unit forester Ben Duda.

The Willitts plan to cosmetically restore the Sisters residence, a two-story structure with a basement. With guidance from former residents, the building will regain its original appearance inside and out and will then become the Willitts' primary residence. The building served as the residence of the Sisters unit forester for over 40 years and then became an office for the last 30 years.

"The residence is in great condition and just needs some minor renovation work to restore it to its original appearance," Bill Willitts said. "It was built with good construction, the first-story floor is solid, but unfortunately the concrete basement had taken on water several times during recent wet periods. Some of the interior fixtures are the original ones and I will be looking to replace those that were removed."

The exterior of the building will be repainted in the original colors, he added.

Several people still living in Central Oregon are being contacted by the Willittses to learn more about the residence and to study any photographs that they may have taken. While occupants before 1952 are still being researched, one current Bend resident lived in the house for the longest period of time. Anna Alegria, then the wife of unit forester Harry "Swede" Pearson, lived in the residence from 1952 to 1962 with her family, including Linda Pearson Shaw, also a Bend resident.

Sisters resident Sue Tewalt lived in the house with parents Jack and Bernadine Lowery from 1962 until she left for college in 1965. Her parents continued to live there for two more years. Department retiree Gary Rudisill of Redmond lived in the house from 1967 to 1969 and recalls that in his first two days there "I met everyone who lived in town." Finally, retiree Bill Smith, now living in Bay City on the Oregon Coast, lived there from 1970 to 1979.

"My employment contract required me to live in the residence, but I paid only $25 a month rent, and utilities were paid by the department," he recalls.

Redmond resident Wayne Rowe, another department retiree, worked at Sisters from 1975 to 2003. While he never lived in the residence, he did live in the original office building for one summer and participated in changing the residence to an office.

The property was purchased by the Department of Forestry in 1936, when Sisters was still a small community.

The property was located across West Jefferson Avenue from the former location of Sisters Ranger Station of the U. S. Forest Service, where the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District headquarters is now located.

A small one-story, three-room building was built that housed a small office, a bedroom, and bathroom.

That building is still on the property and was used as a conference room with the local name "The Dog House." At that time, the Department of Forestry was beginning to assume responsibility for fire protection on private forests in the Sisters area, as the future of local private forest protection associations was in doubt.

County records show that the residence was built in 1938. What is still unclear is who built the building. One former resident had heard that a private construction company from Salem built the structure; not the Civilian Conservation, who built many of the department buildings throughout the state.

However, Bill Willitts found the CCC marker cut into the siding of the building in one of the rooms, showing that there was some CCC participation from CCC Camp Sisters. That finding and the general appearance of the structure makes CCC involvement likely. Further research is being done by the department's Forest History Center in Salem. A warehouse was constructed in 1939 and a gas house in 1956.

Bill Smith, whose family was the last to live in the residence, recalls hearing the story that the builder planted a pine tree at the back of the house. That tree is still growing. In the 1970s, Bill was on Henkle Butte northeast of Sisters observing lightning strikes. Lightning struck this tree at the residence and the charge moved into the house with members of his family inside. The lightning burned out some of the electrical wiring.

The Willittses are looking forward to moving into their new home. They plan to display early photos and other historical information when work is completed.