Historic Philbrook House to leave city | Bellevue native finds site in Carnation

Old Main’s Philbrook House appears to be getting a reprieve, as a diamond company has extended its timeline for needing to remove the historic structure from its property, and a Bellevue native championing its preservation has secured a new site — in Carnation.

By Brandon Macz • April 30, 2015 2:52 pm
A Bellevue native is working to spare the historic Philbrook House downtown from demolition for a new office building. The Philbrook House was built in the 1890s and is the oldest structure in Old Bellevue.
A Bellevue native is working to spare the historic Philbrook House downtown from demolition for a new office building. The Philbrook House was built in the 1890s and is the oldest structure in Old Bellevue.

Old Main’s Philbrook House appears to be getting a reprieve, as a diamond company has extended its timeline for needing to remove the historic structure from its property, and a Bellevue native championing its preservation has secured a new site — in Carnation.

Nils Dickmann had what he thought was enough money raised on GoFundMe to move the Victorian-era house, which James Gordon Fine Diamonds needs off its property behind its Main Street storefront to construct a new office building. He thought nearby Wildwood Park would be a good site.

With a timeline to act before May 1, the Bellevue City Council had city staff quickly assemble a comprehensive assessment of viable temporary and permanent location sites and their costs. On April 13, the council decided the unknown — likely higher than Dickmann’s quoted — costs associated with moving the Philbrook House and tight timeline to do so were prohibitive for the city. Councilmembers supported finding ways to preserve original sections of the house and artifacts for a historical display.

“The line, surprisingly or not, has been extended a bit,” said Dickmann on Tuesday, “but, nevertheless, I’ve been acting as if it hasn’t.”

Dickmann said James Gordon is making revisions to its office designs that extends the time for construction. Still, he said he had to find someplace that wasn’t a park or other city-owned property for the Philbrook House. He said he found a man with a 40-acre ranch in Carnation willing to hold onto the structure.

“It’s unfortunate that Bellevue’s history has to leave Bellevue for it to be saved, but I guess that’s what you’ve got to do,” Dickmann said.

While city staff reported previous relocations of historic structures as costing substantially more, and moving the Philbrook House to city-owned properties could cost more than $100,000, Dickmann said he has secured trucking for the trip from Main Street to the Carnation ranch for about $6,000. He also has a contractor in place for deconstructing part of the Philbrook House and restoring it in Carnation.

“There’s some deconstruction involved, nonetheless,” Dickmann said. “We’re going to carefully fold down the upper floor.”

Should the city ever want to site the Philbrook House in Bellevue in the future, Dickmann said the Carnation property owner supports its return.

“He’s committed to taking the house, perhaps not permanently,” Dickmann said, “but perhaps permanently.”