Classic early 20th century home demolished on Manito to make way for… classic early 20th century home

Neighbors and passersby stopped under the oak trees along Manito Boulevard and stared as a demolition crew took down a 100-year-old, 3,100-square-foot home to its foundation on Monday.

The sound of the home’s destruction echoed down the street.

It had seemed like just a couple of weeks before the family living at the home still had toys in its big grassy front yard, at 2522 S. Manito Blvd., said Tim Theis, a neighborhood resident who described the area as “Norman Rockwell-like.”

“It was such an eye-catcher,” said Jill Andres, another neighborhood resident who said she enjoyed looking at the house on her walks down the boulevard.

In a recent email addressed to neighbors, home owners Patrick and Juliann Haffey said they plan to replace the home with a new building that fits in with the rest of the century-old homes in the neighborhood.

Patrick Haffey, who is the CEO of Selkirk Pharma, a contract manufacturing organization that specializes in creating injectable drugs, including vaccines, wrote in the email that the new building “will not look like the usual new construction home.”

But why tear down the classic home?

According to the email, the Haffeys said they have had multiple builders evaluate their home for a potential remodel since 2019. But in the end, it simply wasn’t feasible.

“Among numerous other issues, the structure between the first and second floor had rotted away and fallen through in two different places, yet it was still incredibly hard to make this decision,” Patrick Haffey wrote.

A remodel would have taken between 19 and 24 months, but a new home would only take about 12 months, he wrote.

“I’m sure there are people who are upset with our decision, but we do hope the neighbors love the home that will be built,” Patrick Haffey wrote in the email. “So, this is what we believe is best for our family (and in the long run also for the neighborhood), but we want to be good neighbors in the meantime. If the construction process is overly disruptive or if there is anything we can do during the next year, please let us know.”

Dave Snowdon, who has lived in his home a couple of doors down from the property, said the whole home collapsed under an excavator within about two hours.

“I’m optimistic that it could be a beautiful mansion-like home that could fit in,” Snowdon said. “I’m sure it will be a nice surprise.”

The original home was not on the city’s historic register, so it did not require a review from the Spokane Historic Preservation Office. Homes that are listed on the register require approval for any exterior changes and demolition, said Megan Duvall, historic preservation officer.

Most commonly, owners of historic homes will want to repaint the home or change the roof, which only require administrative approval from the Historic Preservation Office.

Bigger changes, such as window or siding replacements, require approval from the Historic Landmarks Commission.

“Let’s say a house on the register was thinking about putting a new porch on the front of it that wasn’t historically there,” Duvall said, for example. “We would have to review that with the landmarks commission.”

Everything is case-by-case, Duvall said. No one renovation or update approved by the landmarks commission sets a precedent, she said.

The home was originally built in 1918. The new home’s construction is valued at $2.2 million, according to the city of Spokane’s building permits. It will include two floors and a basement with five bedrooms in about 7,400 square feet of space.