Reard House Restoration


This photo shows the Reard/Freed farmhouse shortly after being moved to its new location. The house was built in 1890 by German immigrant Jacob Reard who farmed the property for ten years before selling it and moving to Ephrata. The farm changed hands over the next few years, doubling as a community dance hall and bootleg distillery along the way, until 1934 when Dorothy and Oscar Freed moved in. The Freeds used an existing 3,000 square foot, two-story chicken coop to house 3,500 hens. Soon they were sending 1,500 eggs per day into Seattle by train. When the well dried up in 1945, Oscar started the first water district on the Plateau and managed it from his dining room/office until 1977. Both Freeds died before the end of the decade and the house remained empty until 1996 when John Buchan Homes bought the whole property to build The Crossings at Pine Lake. Buchan saved the farmhouse by moving it to the edge of the property where it sat for fourteen years until the Sammamish Heritage Society organized its relocation to one of the parcels donated to the city by Mary Piggot and destined to become part of Big Rock Park. Reard Painted -part 2 (6)

The photo above shows the house in its current state, part-way through restoration.

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