All Posts in "Month: April 2017"

Historic Homes of Tacoma, an annual self-guided review of homes in some of the city’s older neighborhoods, returns for another two-day run in May.

Hosted by Tacoma Historical Society, the event is scheduled for May 6 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) and May 7  (1-5 p.m.). Tickets ($25) are available at Tacoma Historical Society Museum, Pacific Northwest Shop, Stadium Thriftway, Columbia Bank branches at 21st and Pearl and in Fircrest, and at brownpapertickets.com. Additional information is available at 253-472-3738.

Six houses will be featured in the tour. They are “so huge that it takes over 225 docents for the weekend” to help manage visits, said Marie Hayden, the tour’s chairwoman.

One of the homes is the Balabanoff House — 3,450 square feet built in 1893 for Dr. Ivan and Dr. Margaret Carsley Balabanoff at a cost of $3,300.  The architect and builder of the two-story Victorian aren’t known. 

After the home was sold in 1929, it had a number of owners, none for more than a few years.  The home was purchased in 1971 by its current owners, who have restored it extensively.  Some of the original features remain, including the front door and entry, with its fir floor and stairway, and the doors and hardware upstairs.  Another piece of history is the carved camphorwood Chinese chest in the entry that is an heirloom from the 19th century.

Just beyond the dining room is a butler’s pantry, which features original glass-front cabinets and hardware.  The kitchen has been remodeled.  The servant’s staircase leads up from the kitchen to join the main stairway.  The kitchen has a vintage main table, side table and secretary desk.  The sunroom beyond the kitchen was added in 1989.  A half-bathroom occupies part of the space that was originally the back porch.

Upstairs  are two bedrooms at the front of the home. The bedroom above the living room has a bow window.  The one above the entry has a bay window and window seat, plus a transom window above the door and an antique dresser and ornate headboard. 

A former bedroom to the rear of the home is now used as an office and study, and a bathroom with skylight has been remodeled.  .                                                 

The tour includes history about the homes’ original owners. For instance, Ivan Balabanoff was born in Bulgaria in 1855 and became a doctor after moving to the U.S. and attending medical school at New York University.  In 1888, he married Margaret Louise Carsley, a doctor at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.  After her death in 1917, Ivan donated an ambulance in her memory to Tacoma.

Majestic, turn-of-the-century homes dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s will be featured in the Historic Homes of Tacoma tour.
srmedia by — April 25, 2017 in News

When I moved here from Ohio in the last century, Cincinnati-style chili was not a “thing.” And now there is a Tacoma restaurant that serves this regional favorite locally.

The Chili Parlor serves chili over spaghetti noodles, topped with shredded cheddar cheese. Cincinnati style!

Wayne Whalen opened the cozy restaurant on South Tacoma Way about a year ago and now caters to a wide variety of tastes, as well as the people who come for the house specialty. We liked the vintage feel of the restaurant which resembled a diner, and found the staff welcoming.

We ordered Cincinnati Chili Three Way, small at $7.95, which is spaghetti noodles with a ladle of chili made with spices used in Mediterranean-style cooking such as cumin, cinnamon and cocoa powder, and topped with cheddar cheese. According to some diners, this is not standard Cincinnati chili because there were no beans, and I think it might be an acquired taste with noodles cooked in unsalted water, and sweet aromatic chili. But it was a generous serving.

We also ordered a chicken-fried steak sandwich at $8.95, which turned out to be a big, delicious breaded chopped steak in a crispy fried spicy coating with lettuce, tomato, fresh onions and mayo on a big, soft bun. It came with ribbon fries, salad or onion rings. I ordered the ribbon fries, which turned out to be a potato which had been “spiralized” with a special cutter that makes super thin ribbons out of any vegetable.  I thought it was dry, and like unsalted potato chips.

We also ordered a Chili Burrito at $6.95, a flour tortilla with lots of Mediterranean chili and cheese, a Cheese Coney which at $4.50 was a bun-length dog with chili and cheese, and onion rings at $4.50. The coney was very tasty, with the chili being a nice flavor blend with the hot dog.

The restaurant serves breakfast, daily specials including meatloaf, fish fries and barbecue, and I’d like to go back to try some of these, based on the great sandwich I had.

Plenty of seating at counter and booths. Bathroom is being remodeled but is not accessible to the disabled.

IF YOU GO

The Chili Parlor

5640 S. Tacoma Way in Tacoma (on the west side of South Tacoma Way, south of South 56th Street. There is on-street parking in front of the narrow storefront flanked with beach flags.)

253-472-6979

Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday

 

Carolyn Augustine, who writes the Senior Eats column for Senior Scene, is a freelance restaurant writer.

The Chili Parlor’s Cincinnati Chili Three Way – multi-spiced chili served with spaghetti noodles and cheese – is a four-way with the addition of onions.

 

Carolyn Augustine by — April 25, 2017 in Food, People

As the Boomer population ages and retires, massive shifts in the housing market are to be expected.
One current popular trend with these older Americans is manufactured housing in land-lease communities, where homes are placed on leased land and the overall price of the home is lower than other types of homes. And many of these communities offer senior-friendly amenities.
“While land-lease communities are popular with people of all ages, those over 55 may particularly appreciate the affordability and lifestyle benefits they deliver,” says Richard Jennison, president of the Manufactured Housing Institute.
Manufactured homes can cost an average of $68,000, compared with $276,000 for a single-family, site-built home. There’s also more home for the buck: As they often cost up to 20 percent less per square foot than site-built homes, with comparable interior finishes.
For those who are retired or approaching retirement, affordability is a significant factor to consider. Additionally, such homes are quite easy to customize over time in order to meet the changing needs and abilities of an individual.
Furthermore, many land-lease communities on which manufactured homes are situated are dedicated to those over 55 years old, and some come with amenities like community clubhouses with scheduled activities, exercise facilities, swimming pools and lakes for boating and fishing.
Jennison said boomers and retirees who are anticipating less mobility in the years to come are finding communities with “everything at their fingertips” to be a built-in defense against isolation, and a convenient and practical alternative to a conventional neighborhood. Well-groomed grounds, and nice landscaping, common to these communities, can provide convenience to those possibly unable of doing their own yardwork.
Information about these types of manufactured homes and communities can be found at facebook.com/Manufactured-Housing-Institute.
“If you are looking for a home in which to age-in-place, don’t rule out a manufactured home in a land-lease community,” says Jennison. “They offer a neighborly environment with a strong sense of community.”

Land-lease communities for manufactured housing can be attractive to folks over 55.

Source: StatePoint

Contributing Author by — April 25, 2017 in Personal Finance/Consumers

Plans for one retirement community on Tacoma’s waterfront have been canceled, but another one is still in the works.

Transforming Age, a not-for-profit firm previously known as Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest, won’t build a 108-apartment complex on Foss Waterway. The project, which had been tentatively scheduled to be finished in 2019, was announced early last year, but the organization has since decided not to go forward with it.

Foss Waterway Development Authority, which manages development of property along waterway, learned of the project’s cancellation in a letter from Transforming Age.

Meanwhile, Seattle-based GenCare Lifestyle plans to build a retirement community in Point Ruston, a development area at the north end of Ruston Way next to Commencement Bay. The $55 million project calls for 150 units for independent and assisted living in a six-story building that could open by fall 2018.

GenCare, whose headquarters is in Seattle, already has retirement communities in Renton, Seattle, Lynnwood and Granite Falls.

 

srmedia by — April 25, 2017 in News