PORT ANGELES — When Catherine and Tom Harper moved in to the second story of the Pioneer Building, they had no running water.
They had to trek to the public bathrooms downstairs and truck their water upstairs in buckets.
Now the 3,200-square-foot second story is a luxurious space made exactly to their liking by Rick Hoch, a local contractor, Catherine said.
The home is one of six buildings on this coming Saturday’s second annual Second Story Story tour, hosted by the Port Angeles Downtown Association.
“The goal of this tour is to acquaint people with the possibilities that the second stories provide,” said Brad Collins, Port Angeles City Council member and tour leader.
Leave from fountain
The free tours will leave the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at the corner of First and Laurel streets at 10 a.m. and will take up to two hours.
Catherine said the upper-story space was “interesting” when the couple moved in.
“When we were looking [in 2005], this was pretty much all that was for sale, and we bought it sight unseen.
“But we love it.”
The upstairs had previously housed offices, so the amenities necessary for a home — such as a kitchen and bathroom — hadn’t been installed.
Now, the Harpers are advocates for others doing just as they did.
‘So much potential’
“There is so much potential,” Tom Harper said.
The couple, who hailed from Sonoma, Calif., visited the North Olympic Peninsula on the way to Victoria — but instead fell in love with downtown Port Angeles.
“It reminds me so much of San Francisco when I was growing up,” Catherine Harper said.
The couple walk to do most of their errands and remodeled the roof of the downstairs which extends out the back of the building to be an extensive deck for entertaining.
They also turned one of the rooms into an aviary, with four cages for their four birds — Sonny Boy, Oscar, Bubbles and Little Man.
The suite that houses their bedroom and private sitting room is also the home for their four cats — Pea Abby, Jet, Dot and Houdini.
Strictly indoor
The cats are strictly indoor, but they still enjoy watching the pigeons and seagulls through the windows, Catherine said.
This is the first year for the couple to participate in the tour — though they have opened up their home before.
“We hosted an open house just on our own to show people what could be done in the upstairs of these buildings, and we had about 100 people come — and that was just us on our own,” Tom Harper said.
The tours are meant to show off the mixed uses of the upstairs — as well as make people aware of spaces that might be open, Downtown Association Executive Director Barb Frederick said.
Last year’s tour resulted in two office spaces being rented, she said.
“Many of the second stories in these and other buildings are perfect for remodeling into living spaces, with all the amenities of downtown outside your door,” she said.
Richard Stephens, the downtown association’s Business Development Committee chairman — who also is an advertising salesman for the Peninsula Daily News — will lead one of the tours.
He said the downtown currently has three buildings with office space available and 10 spaces that are ready for residential use.
Several other spaces need renovations.
In addition to Collins, Stephens and Frederick, tour leaders will include Charlie Smith, an architect from Lindberg, and Jan Harbick, chairwoman of the Downtown Parking Committee.
Nathan West, city economic and community development director, said the city is encouraging development in the second-story spaces of the downtown.
“We want to do our best to encourage new development in the second stories,” West said.
“We do what we can to promote that there is availability there and we do permit for both residential and for office spaces.
“We would very much like to see additional residential in the downtown area.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
