Location: 834 Percival Street SW
Local register; Diversity: Jewish Heritage
Meeker/Bean House 1957, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives |
Meeker/Bean House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross |
This is the first-built of three unusual homes designed by builder Ernest Meeker overlooking the Deschutes Estuary in Southwest Olympia (see Meeker House and La Villa-Meeker Mansion). Each of these spectacular homes has a unique vision and takes advantage of their beautiful wooded setting on the edge of a ravine. The Meeker/Bean home was erected in 1918 and has seven levels, cascading down the hillside. Earl Bean, owner of Olympia Supply Company, purchased the home in 1927, converting an upstairs ballroom into bedrooms for his large family. In the 1970s the home was almost completely gutted by fire and stood vacant for many years, until in 2003 it was purchased and restored, inside and out, to its former Craftsman style glory. It is on the local register. The Bean family was, and continues to be, a prominent member of Olympia’s Jewish community as well as anchoring an important commercial location downtown until 2016.
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Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross