Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
House |
Other Name |
Hellyer House |
Collection |
Metro Parks Tacoma - Permanent Collection |
Date |
c. 1960 |
Description |
Pediatrician and naturalist Dr. David Hellyer and his wife Connie built a wooden cabin on their property out near Eatonville in the 1940s. Thirty years later, "Doc" and Connie donated their land, including the structures on it, as the basis for an outdoor animal park now known as Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. One of these structures was an A-frame house, still in use today as guest lodging. In 1957, Doc Hellyer built a two-story A-frame vacation home for his family in Olympia, using plans of his own design. When Doc went to purchase the lumber for the project, the Douglas Fir Plywood Associations (DFPA) was so excited about the plans it donated the plywood to build the cabin in exchange for the drawings. Additionally, the house was featured in magazines as part of the DFPA's promotional campaign selling the do-it-yourself plan. The house style was so simple yet welcoming that Doc Hellyer built a second A-frame vacation home on the land at Horseshoe Lake which would become Northwest Trek. This house, built around 1960, is still used for intern and guest lodging today. During the postwar boom of the 1950s, second homes became a popular option for the growing middle class, and A-frame houses became available as a do-it-yourself kit. The Tacoma-based DFPA was one of the first lumber businesses to capitalize on this trend and sold plans nationwide. The A-frame house was very popular in the 1950s-60s as a style for vacation homes due to its unusual, whimsical shape. |
Location |
Northwest Trek |
Object Number |
NWT-006 |
Web link |
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park |