History of 1231 Figueroa Street, Walla Walla, WA
Legal Description
Beginning at the most southerly comer of Lot 20 in Block 15of Green’s Parle Addition to the City of Walla Walla, and running thence North 35 degrees 01’ East, along the Northwesterly line of Figueroa St., a distance of 105.0 feet more or less to a point which is 15.0 feet Southwesterly, measured along said Northwesterly line of Figueroa St., from the most Easterly comer of Lot 21 in said Block 15 of Green’s Park Addition; thence North 54 degrees 59′ West 104.7 feet; thence Westerly in a straight line 180 feet more or less 10 the point which is 60 feet East and 145 feet South of the Northeast corner of Lot 1 in Block 15 of Green’s Park Addition; thence West parallel to the South line of Melrose Street, a distance of 60 feet to a point in the East line of said Lot 1 in Block 15 of Green’s Park Addition which is 145 feet South of the Northeast comer of said Lot 1, thence South along the East line of said Lot 1, a distance of 4.8 feet, thence 43 degrees 25′ feet West 25.7 feet; thence South 27 degrees 16′ West 47.7 feet, thence South 62 degrees 11′ West 84.9 feet more or less to the most Westerly comer of Lot 20 in Block 15 of Green’s Park Addition aforesaid; thence South 54 degrees 59′ East, along the Southwesterly line of said Lot 20, a distance of 82.7 feet to the point of beginning.
Title History
On October 7, 1867, John Haley sold 19 and one-half acres including this property to William O. Green for $1500. This parcel was comprised of several sections in the NE quarter of Walla Walla which was on the edge of town. William O. and Mary F. Green were early pioneers. John W. Langdon, community leader and businessman, handled the affairs of Mary F. Green and Green’s Park Addition was one of his early developments. William Green died in the spring of 1878. On December 30, 1895 Clarinda J. Smith and Hugh Roland Smith, Anna Barnett and W. H. Barnett, Philinda Green (who later married John W. Langdon) and Mary O. Green, the four surviving daughters (and their husbands) of William and Mary F. Green quit claim deeded for a stated consideration of $1 their interests in several tracts, including this one to their mother, Mary F. Green, who was by then a widow.
On May 27, 1901 Mary F. Green sold this parcel to J. F. Kirby, a farmer living in Waitsburg, for $750. It would appear that the Kirbys built the house, which has been assigned numerous addresses over the years. Because there were no building permits prior to 1907, there was no definite recorded information about the construction date of 1905 which is listed on the county assessor’s records. However, Irving and Marianne Hashimoto, who bought the house in 1986 and did a major remodeling of it found a brick on top of the chimney when re-roofing which said 1905. The lot was for many years larger than it is now as it included two lots on Melrose that are adjacent to the current property lines. information indicated that surveys have been done several times defining the property. Several sources mentioned a dairy on or near the property in its early days.
According to the Hashimotos, there was apparently at some point a small pond with a boat in the back as well as a spring over which a gazebo was constructed. The gazebo is now on the property next door on the north side.
On September 13, 1907 John Kirby deeded this property to his wife for consideration of love and affection. He died on November 23, 1907. Mary H. Kirby, widow, then deeded the property (the address at this time was 1903 Figueroa) to her daughter Mary Batemen for consideration of love and affection on June 6, 1908. The assessed value was listed as $5,995 in the 1908 City Directory. On January 17, 1910 Mary H. Kirby and Mary A. Bateman and her husband P. B. Bateman for a stated consideration of $10 sold the property to T.M. Fine, whom the City Directory listed as the president of Batemen-Samuel Harrow Weeder Co., residing at I03S Alvarado. All City Directories during these years indicate that the Fines continued to live at 103S Alvarado.
On March 26, 1913 for consideration of $10, T.M. and Maggie Fine “granted, bargained and sold” to Ira D. Brunton, who was a farmer, and Bessie L. Brunton. The address is listed as 1221 Figueroa at this point and a value of $1,565 is given in the 1914 City Directory. Shortly thereafter, on March 29, 1913, a warranty deed (133/192 in County Auditor’s deed books) shows that the Bruntons sold the property for $6,000 to John Schiffner and Anna Marie Schiffner (she is listed in two city directories as a waiter at Hotel Dacres and residing at 233 Maple). There is no record of the Schiffners ever living in this property, although their names appear in the house history done for 1210 Figueroa, where they lived from 1924-1929. On December 22, 1913 the Schiffners sold for a stated consideration of $1 to John H. Bauer (spelling is Bower in one record), a lawyer, and his wife Dora Bauer. Mary H. Kirby is listed as still carrying a $3,000 mortgage. In fact, Mary Kirby received the reconveyance of the property on April 11, 1916 from the Bauers and their son John Bauer, Jr. and Lydia Bauer, his wife. In Deed Book 141/346 Mary F. Kirby again conveyed the property to her heirs P. B. and Mary Ann Bateman for a stated consideration of one dollar on September 20, 1916.
The Batemans sold the property on Oct. 12, 1918 for $3,500 to Emil Sanderson, a porter at Gardner and Co., and Mabel O. Sanderson. The Sandersons sold the property to Bert M. Huntington and Edith Huntington for $3,250 on August 7, 1922. The Huntingtons did not have the property for very long because on December 5, 1922, they sold to Mary Yeend Carey and Robert Carey for a stated consideration of $10 (a mortgage of $2,000 is also listed). The Careys were the grandparents of County Commissioner David Carey. The current address of 1231 Figueroa was used by the Careys. Robert Carey’s first City Directory listing in the 1923-24 City Directory is “dairy,” then in 1925 he is listed as a salesman for Amery and Sons. In the 1929-30 and 1931-32 City Directories he is listed as the City Commissioner of Finance and then in the 1933-35 Directory he is listed as the City Commissioner of Streets. He continued on with public service in the Walla Walla Police Dept., serving as a sergeant and his grandson thought that he was the chief of police at some point. Carey was very instrumental in the founding of the YMCA in Walla Walla. Grandson David Carey remembers a big porch around the front and sides of the house, a piano in the front hall, a parlor that was never used with his grandparents’ bedroom off the parlor, a very dark kitchen, and the very large property with the gazebo and spring. On April 20, 1935 Robert Carey made a quit claim deed to his wife Mary for a stated consideration of $10. Mary Carey died on June 15, 1947 and her husband died shortly thereafter on July 24, 1947. The property was deeded to their daughter Margaret Carey Collingwood.
Records indicate land surveys in 1947-48 resulted in the reduction of the lot to its current very unusual size (it is composed of bits and pieces of five different lots). The Melrose section of the property was made into two lots.
Carl and Minadell Anderson bought the house in 1948 They took out a mortgage for $4,000. Assessed value of the house was $1,950 in 1958. Carl Anderson is listed in the 1949-50 City Directory as a salesman and then as office manager for the US Department of Agriculture’s office in Walla Walla. Several Whitman students are listed in the City Directories of the 1970s and early 1980s as living at 1231½ Figueroa which was the upstairs which had on apartment. Minadell Anderson died on June 13, 1982. Carl Anderson was the executor of her estate and the house was deeded to Steven Hubbard, Anne Vandermeir, Jill Perry, and Joyce Pink, who would appear to be heirs. Terry K. and Laurie Bird bought the house for $42,500 on March 22, 1983.
On August 15, 1985, Irvin Y., a professor at Whitman College, and Marianne Hashimoto, a local counselor, bought the house from the Birds for $38,133.26 which was the assumption of the unpaid principal balance. A survey of the land was done again with a redefinition of the boundaries and the establishment of the current legal description. The Hashimotos did extensive remodeling and structural work on the house which was in very poor condition when they bought it. They put in support under the house, re-roofed, made the screened-in porch on the back part of the kitchen, remodeled the kitchen, added closets, remodeled the bathrooms, tore down the garage, and rearranged and remodeled the rooms upstairs.
On July 24, 1996 the Hashimotos sold to Porter and Sally Wagoner for $ 139, 500. The Wagoners added a garage in 1997 and have continued to remodel and redecorate, making 1231 Figueroa a handsome Victorian house.
Construction of the House
The records in the assessor’s office indicate that the house was built in 1905 by John F. and Mary H. Kirby. This was confirmed when the house was reroofed by the 1986-96 owners Irving and Marianne Hashimoto and a brick on the top of the chimney was found that said 1905. Major remodeling was done by the Hashimotos from 1986-1995.
