Navy's 1896-built homes preserved on Bremerton's base, but it comes at a cost
BREMERTON — Just beyond the gates of the Navy base, five stately, white homes with pillared porches overlook gray ships in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The block of neoclassical residences, built in the dawn of the military presence on the Kitsap Peninsula, also serve as quarters for the Navy's local leaders.
Keeping up their 1896-vintage look doesn't come cheaply, however.
Hunt Companies, the Navy's housing contractor, has pumped millions into the federally preserved homes, known as the Officers' Row Historic District, in an era when housing conditions for military members are under scrutiny.
"Preserving historic structures is very challenging and expensive when combined with our primary mission of providing high quality, affordable housing for our military service members," said Brenda Christman, a senior vice president for Hunt.
Projects to preserve pillars and porches in all of the base's historic homes have alone exceeded $10 million in the last decade, Christman said. Even the home's utilities, to include heat from a boiler system installed long ago, can reach $15,000 a year.
Despite the costs, local Navy leaders have expressed an appreciation for the opportunity to live in them and entertain honored guests.
"It's a real privilege to live here," said Capt. Richard Massie, commanding officer of Naval Base Kitsap, who currently inhabits one.
The homes are filled with ornate lintels, or supports, leaded glass and oak hardwood floors. Capacious in size, each home has around five bedrooms and an inordinate number of arched, decorative fireplaces in roomy dining and living rooms. Those aspects were included to impress visitors and dignitaries at what was then a fledgling Navy base.
"They have all the hallmarks of a place that's used for official entertaining," said Michelle Sadlier, a cultural resource manager and architectural historian for Naval Base Kitsap.
Fixes are costly, time-intensive
Recently, the company found rot in the wooden porches and pillars of the Officers' Row homes. Given the complexities and regulations surrounding their protection under the National Park Service, the fixes can take hundreds of thousands of dollars and a lot of time. Painters trained in dealing with lead-based paint must be used.
The pillars' "egg and dart" molding and spiral, scroll-like volutes were originally carved out of wood by hand. Rotted columns were replaced with composite molds, but not before a process that required the Navy to hold a public comment period.
There are times when Hunt Companies, with approval from the Navy and the National Parks Service, can take down historic homes if repair costs grow too steep. Christman mentioned Quarters M2, a housing unit where the main structure has separated from its porch. The company estimates it will cost upwards of $450,000 to fix, and Christman says nearby homes "appear identical that will be preserved."
It's not the first time in Kitsap the Navy has OK'd demolishing historic housing. In 2011, three homes in the colonial revival style built just before World War II were destroyed, after they'd fallen into disrepair.
Still, that leaves plenty of others whose upkeep remains. On the Bremerton base alone, there are 40 units deemed historic by the National Park Service.
Josh Farley is a reporter covering the military and Bremerton for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-9227, josh.farley@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @joshfarley.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Navy's 1896-built homes preserved on base, but it comes at a cost
