<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3GiUoX_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3GiUoX_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="714" ><figcaption>The Koerner House is tucked into a steep, timbered lot on Spokane’s South Hill. Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>In the fall of 1995, Brian Westmoreland volunteered on the Cheney Cowles Museum (now the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture) Historic Preservation Committee. As the group prepared for its 1996 Mother’s Day Home Tour in Spokane’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, each committee member was assigned one or two prospective homes to visit. Westmoreland got the Koerner House. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2FcJq0_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2FcJq0_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="714" ><figcaption>Homeowner Brian Westmoreland and his wife&nbsp;Patty have filled the chalet with period-appropriate furniture and works from their own art collection. Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>When he pulled up in front, Westmoreland realized it was a house he’d driven past his entire life — his mother’s best friend lived a block away. The property looked a little rough, with downed trees still littering the yard after a recent ice storm. But the house itself, a historic Swiss chalet-style home, was stunning. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4YWSkn_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4YWSkn_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="714" ><figcaption>Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>Navigating carefully through the debris, he knocked on the front door and was further surprised when it was opened by someone he knew: Kathy Loftin. She welcomed him in, and they sat down to catch up and talk about the upcoming home tour. Westmoreland knew Kathy’s ex-husband, Geoff, through his lighting store, Luminaria (now Revival Lighting). During their visit, Kathy expressed interest in having her home included in the tour but warned that it would likely be on the market before Mother’s Day. “No, it won’t,” said Westmoreland. He had decided, on the spot, to buy the house. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3iZTRA_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3iZTRA_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="714" ><figcaption>Homeowner Brian Westmoreland Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>It was a serendipitous meeting: Loftin was no longer comfortable living alone in the large Swiss Chalet home and was looking for a Craftsman bungalow near Manito Park, the very type of home that Westmoreland already happened to own. After a short series of negotiations that included both homes and other investment properties each owned, the two parties rented a moving truck and swapped furnishings on the same day. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4PWMCF_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4PWMCF_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="715" ><figcaption>Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>“Growing up as an Air Force brat,” Westmoreland’s wife, Patty says, “Brian needed a forever house, even at 30. His lifelong dream was to find a place he loved and stay there from then on. He really was looking for the place he never was going to move from.” The house had two extra lots and a carriage house, perfect for accommodating Westmoreland’s passion for cars. And he knew it would hold his interest long-term. Though the Loftins had been renovating the main living areas, the rest of the house needed a huge amount of work. Westmoreland didn’t mind. “It was one of the coolest houses I’d ever seen.” The home’s nomination to the Spokane Historic Register was almost completed when he acquired it, and local historian Linda Yeomans finished the job. “I wanted a significant house, one I knew I could get on the registry. I wanted to be part of that whole thing,” Westmoreland says. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1TmcD0_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1TmcD0_17q24YvC00" width="1000" height="714" ><figcaption>Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>Little did he know that he was also changing the direction of his entire life. Increasingly disenchanted with his job as a stockbroker, within three months of moving into the house Westmoreland had quit his job and launched Authentic Restoration Services. He didn’t have a plan, but he felt the need to take his mother’s advice to find something creative, something he loved, something that was everything he was. “It was staring me right in the face,” he said, “because for 10 years I volunteered for the Mother’s Day tour [of historic homes]. I did the Old House Workshops at the museum; I loved it more than life.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0sLCYS_17q24YvC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0sLCYS_17q24YvC00" width="1200" height="857" ><figcaption>Restoring the Koerner home as closely as possible to its original state, with allowances for modern conveniences, has been a lengthy — and, 30 years later, still unfinished — process for owner Brian Westmoreland. Leslie Douglas</figcaption></figure>The architect of Westmoreland’s new old house, Carl C. Koerner, came to Spokane in 1910 and was chief clerk for the North Coast Railway Company. He also worked as an accountant and auditor for several Spokane businesses. Set on a steeply wooded slope, the chalet was built in 1912, and for the next 32 years Koerner and his wife, Mathilda, lived there, raising two sons along the way. Carl, who was a firm believer in hard work and exercise, had the basement turned into a gymnasium for his sons. Loving old houses as he does, it was important for Westmoreland to keep renovations true to Carl Koerner’s original vision. “I think authenticity is important in America because we don’t really know what old is. I had a friend who grew up in Germany and lived in a 400-year-old house who laughed when I talked about my 100-year-old house. Preservation is extremely strict in Germany for old homes. If you do little changes, that becomes the new history. A house is only original once, and to me, that’s the most valuable.” The historic chalet has given Westmoreland ample opportunity for what he calls a happily-never-ending project. One of the first things he tackled was the roof: He removed the original cedar shake shingles due to fire concerns and recrafted 38 of the 48 hand-cut rafters. He rebuilt the porch railing, put in air conditioning, rewired the entire house, redid two of the three bathrooms, and restored every window. Westmoreland’s goal, with his own house and with those he renovates, is never to make the house look new, but to return it to its original state. Real estate agents have asked him to consult with prospective buyers of historic homes, and he says he’s always clear about his philosophy going into a project. “If you want to knock down walls, paint the wood and brick, change everything, this is not the house for you… When I walk away, I want it to be the house that it once was.<h2>IF THOSE WALLS COULD TALK…</h2>Through the years, Westmoreland has enjoyed collecting stories and neighborhood lore about his beloved home. Long-time residents have shared that local children often cut through the yard of the Koerner house on their way to Franklin Elementary School on 17th Avenue, and that it had the reputation of being the local haunted house. “[Neighbors who lived nearby as kids] have told me that they would see apparitions in windows when they would shortcut through the yard to get down to the school back… they would see a woman staring down.” For Westmoreland, it all adds to the home’s sense of history.<h2>WHAT IS A SWISS CHALET? </h2>Originating in the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, where steeply pitched roofs, deep eaves, and wooden balconies were practical for heavy snow and mountain life, a Swiss chalet home feels both romantic and whimsical. The style emerged in the United States in the mid- to late 19th century, blending Alpine inspiration with American craftsmanship. They often feature carved wooden trim with motifs like hearts, edelweiss, or scrolls, and are ideally sited on a hill or in wooded surroundings.</div></body>

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In the fall of 1995, Brian Westmoreland volunteered on the Cheney Cowles Museum (now the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture) Historic Preservation Committee. As the group prepared for its 1996 Mother’s Day Home Tour in Spokane’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, each committee member was assigned one or two prospective homes to visit. Westmoreland got the Koerner House.

How a run-down house rescued its owner

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In the fall of 1995, Brian Westmoreland volunteered on the Cheney Cowles Museum (now the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture) Historic Preservation Commit

How a run-down house rescued its owner

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