A New Jersey woman with an affinity for old homes has purchased the historical Boatman-Ainsworth House in Lakewood without even coming west to see it in person.
Marjorie Thomas-Candau of Medford, N.J., becomes the sixth owner of the colonial home on 112th Street Southwest across from Clover Park High School.
The sale closed Nov. 4, according to the county auditor’s office, and the sale price was $280,000.
“It’s very hard to find an old home and one that’s not so expensive you have to be a millionaire to be able to afford it,” Thomas-Candau said. “That’s something that I thought was pretty lucky.”
The house is named for its first two owners. Willis Boatman, an early settler to the area, built it on his 160-acre homestead in the late 1850s. Boatman sold the property to Capt. John Ainsworth, a founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, in 1878.
It was listed on the state historic registry in 1974 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was one of the first listed on the city registry of historic properties in 2003.
Thomas-Candau, an occupational therapist, plans to move to the area to be closer to family and her best friend who lives in Seattle. She enlisted the help of her daughter, who lives in Tacoma, to find her new home. She gave some criteria to assist the search, specifically requesting an old home with character and land.
She wasn’t sold on the house when her daughter first sent pictures. But continued prodding by her daughter and best friend, who both toured the house, convinced her the property was the right fit for her.
Thomas-Candau hasn’t yet visited her new home and said she won’t be moving to Lakewood for at least a year so she has time first to take care of some personal affairs. She plans to do repairs but said she doesn’t intend to make major changes to the house or property.
Thomas-Candau grew up in a farmhouse in southern New Jersey, not far from where she lives now. Her home was built circa 1860 and was Medford’s first free public school.
The Boatman-Ainsworth House’s previous owners, Craig and Margaret Gunter, passed the home to their three daughters after Margaret Gunter died last year; Craig Gunter died in 2005. The daughters, who all live outside Pierce County, said they made the difficult decision to part with the house their family owned for 40 years.
“Even talking about it brings tears to my eyes,” one of the daughters, Jeannie Gunter, told The News Tribune in September. “That home is really something very, very special.”
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTchill
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