6517 N. Artesian Avenue

6517 N. Artesian Avenue, the Anderson House.

Circa: 1927

Original Owner: C.E. Swanson

Present (2008) Owner: Richard and Kathy Anderson

This house was included in the 2008 Annual House Tour.

The Anderson House was originally built for C.E. Swanson at a cost of $7,000. By the time of the 1930 Census, it was occupied by an extended family ranging in age from 1 to 85.

Richard and Kathy Anderson purchased the home in the fall of 1983. They were attracted to the architecturally distinct house, and were comfortable in the neighborhood, having lived here since being married at St. Henry Church in 1980.

Kathy’s grandparents had lived in the area just east of here since 1929. The things that drew the couple to the house are still in place today, including the leaded glass windows, the unique stonework on the facade and the sunlit, open layout of the first floor. In 1986, Richard and Kathy built the highly functional, compact kitchen themselves.

Other hands-on projects included stripping and refinishing the woodwork in the dining room, re-plastering the walls and ceiling and removing some “really nasty” burlap wall covering and paneling in the family room.

Current projects include stripping and refinishing the main staircase and the living room woodwork and an ever growing list of both interior and exterior work. As Richard says, “When you own an old house, you’re in a never-ending battle with decay and entropy.”