A date with city history

Aug. 21—A great-grandson of Wendell P. Hurlbut stepped inside his family's fabled mansion in Lewiston for the first time last week.

Kyle Hurlbut, of Los Altos, Calif., was visibly impressed with the workmanship and architectual details that went into the historic structure that was built by his ancestors and later converted into an orphanage.

The Hurlbut Mansion at 1810 18th Ave. is no longer as glorious as it once was, but it's still considered sturdy as it stands in a state of limbo. Spared from the wrecking ball, the 15-room house once described as "the finest residential property in the city" is used for storage as it quietly awaits its next transformation.

"When I drove up, my first thought was, is it going up or coming down?" Hurlbut said of the large brick structure, now surrounded by scaffolding and showing varying degrees of decay. "This is my first visit to Lewiston. It's a link to history, and of course, for me it's personal."

As historian Steven Branting narrated a tour of the main floor, Hurlbut recalled photographs and stories he's heard about the mansion over the years. "There was a round table in the dining room that could seat 24 people, like something straight out of King Arthur," he said.

In a riches-to-rags twist, Hurlbut said his grandfather, who was born in Lewiston, reportedly moved from the palatial house to a bug-infested tenement in New York after the family lost a fortune. There, his diet consisted mainly of Spanish rice, Hurlbut said, a far cry from the food prepared by a personal chef the boy's family employed at the 18th Avenue house.

"A portrait of my grandfather, also named Wendell Phillips Hurlbut, is still hanging in my brother's house in the Seattle area," he said.

Kyle Hurlbut, who grew up on Mercer Island and earned degrees at the University of Washington, spent his career in the Silicon Valley, where he still resides. Now retired, he is a world traveler and currently working on a graphic novel. His late father was Wendell P. Hurlbut III, the founding Naval commanding officer of the VP-69 Squadron.

"My older sister is named Wendi, so I dodged becoming Wendell Phillips Hurlbut the fourth, which would've been quite a mouthful," he said with a laugh.

During his visit to Lewiston, Hurlbut also toured several other historic buildings, including the Blue Lantern Coffee House that once housed his great-grandfather's bank, and the striking Tudor house next door to the mansion. The fully furnished house, now owned and used by Troy Insurance, was a wedding gift to another relative, great-uncle Harold Hurlbut and his bride, Maud Blanchard. They lived there briefly before selling it to Wisconsin timberman, Joseph Patrick McCann Sr., and moving to New York City.

Branting features both Hurlbut residences in his new book, "Interiors: Old Lewiston Behind Doors," which will be released Sept. 8.

Branting's extensive research details how financier W.P. Hurlbut and his wife, Sarah, arrived in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 1899, and moved into their "handsome" home in 1905. A fire destroyed the original structure, but a Greek Revival-style mansion was rebuilt at the site, with the help of contractor Frank Booth and architect Karl Malmgren, according to Branting's book.

"It would cost about $7 million to build this house today," Branting said at the recent tour with Hurlbut. "The people who settled this area of town, known as Blanchard Heights, were filthy rich, with some earning and losing several fortunes in their lifetimes."

The Hurlbuts moved from Lewiston to New York in 1909, and in early 1912, their elegant mansion was selected as the new site for the North Idaho Children's Home. For the next 50 years, the house served as an orphanage.

It is now owned by the Lewis-Clark Early Childhood Education Program. Executive Director Alice Weaver said the structure is sturdy, but cautioned visitors about the numerous tripping hazards. Upper floors are closed off, and boxes and children's chairs are stacked on the main floor, along with hints of the once-grand interior.

Plans to restore the building are "on hold" at this time, Weaver said. "At this point, we don't know what will happen to it. Nothing has been done recently."

"We're documenting everything we can," Branting said. "You never know when a grant may come through. There is so much demolition by neglect in Lewiston. I remember visiting this house as a young man, when there were apartments in what were once the music and living rooms. The attention to detail was just remarkable, and you can still see the excellent craftsmanship that went into building this."

Hurlbut said the Idaho visit was well worth his time.

"I love historic towns," he said after stepping back in time. "I've toured all over the world, but to see this house and my great-grandfather's bank was something else. I feel like I just got a little view of a really dynamic piece of Lewiston's legacy as a boom town."

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.