Bellingham Then & Now: The Victor Roeder Home

Roeder, Peabody and Eldridge were among the first group of white settlers to colonize Whatcom County, and I made it my goal to cover their family homes to round out our Then & Now series for 2019. 

The Eldridge Mansion turned out to be a second generation home after the first ones burned down, and was built after Edward Eldridge’s death.  I haven’t found any information on a home owned by Russell Peabody home (if I’ve missed it, please email me at tiffany@cohengroupnw.com!), so last week I sat down to cover the Roeder Home. I figured this would be an easy one. 

Well, I certainly didn’t anticipate the emotional rollercoaster that would take me on. Turns out the Victor Roeder home is (like the Eldridge Mansion) a second-generation build, so Cooper and I switched gears and pivoted to the original, the Henry Roeder home: Elmheim. Once gracing the corner of Elm St. and Monroe, Elmheim was a beyond-gorgeous palace of a place that is forever lost to history. 

And so today we go back to the still-surviving Victor Roeder Home. It’s significant for three reasons: (1) it was owned by one of the first white families to develop this area, (2) it’s an example of turn of the century architecture by a leading professional in our area, and (3) it’s well-preserved both externally and internally.

Victor Roeder was a prominent figure in early Bellingham history. He founded the Bellingham National Bank and served as Whatcom County Treasurer. He built his home over the course of five years, after inheriting a sizable estate upon the death of his father.

The exterior was designed in a blend of revival styles with Gothic elements and “Bracketed Gothic” (for us non-architects, those are the finishing details that would be the icing on a gingerbread house).  Roeder chose prominent local architect Alfred Lee (of the Black House, the Morse House, Old Main, City Hall, and more) to design his residence. 

Unlike many of the houses in this series, the Roeder Home hasn’t been a private residence for several decades. It has been owned and preserved by Whatcom County since 1971 as a cultural and social center. That also means that the painted murals, late medieval-style stairhall, and original light fixtures can still be enjoyed as guests attend music events, meetings, and weddings in the space. Some hints of the interior can been seen on this Facebook page. 

Next up on Bellingham Then & Now: we round up the best posts of 2019.

Previously on Bellingham Then & Now: Elmheim is a mansion of yesteryear, lost forever to history.
Sources

Victor A. Roeder House (2600 Sunset Drive). City of Bellingham. Link.

Washington SP Roeder, Victor A., House. National Archives Catalog. Link. 

Images

Then: Victor A. Roeder House (2600 Sunset Drive). City of Bellingham. Link.

Now: Cooper Hansley

Blog copy by Tiffany Holden