‘The barn in the bend in the road’ part of this year’s Holiday Tour of Historic Homes

When it was built in 1914, Cloverfields was a farmhouse, part of a dairy farm owned by Hazard Stevens, whose accomplishments included bringing electricity to Olympia and summiting Mount Rainier.

In some ways, the three-story Dutch colonial revival house, featured on Sunday’s Holiday Tour of Historic Homes, hasn’t changed much. It still has radiator heating, a clawfoot tub, push-button light switches and one outlet per room — a small number by today’s standards but an extravagant one a century ago.

Today, Cloverfields is a comfortable family home a few minutes’ walk from Olympia High School, which sits on land that was once part of its farm.

It’s both a historic landmark — listed on the national, state and Olympia registers of historic places — and a neighborhood landmark, noticeable for its size and style and for the way Carlyon Avenue winds around it.

“Whenever anyone asks where we live, we say, ‘It’s the barn in the bend in the road,’ ” said Joe Penrod, who moved to Cloverfields three years ago with his wife, Michelle, and their four children. “The Dutch colonial style is an agrarian style. It does look like a barn.”

From the outside, it does.

Inside, it’s furnished in mid-century modern style and decorated with contemporary art and paintings of Mount Rainier, a tribute to Stevens’ participation in one of the first recorded summits of the mountain.

“That was one of his claims to fame, and so we collect paintings of Mount Rainier,” Joe Penrod told The Olympian.

Sunday’s tour offers visitors a chance to learn more about Stevens’ last home and the other featured homes. “They all have wonderful stories,” said Shanna Stevenson of the Olympia Historical Society.

Cloverfields’ historic and architectural significance was what drew the Penrods’ attention long before they spotted a for-sale sign on the property.

“It just had something special about it,” Penrod said. “It was pretty obvious that it was one of the older homes in the neighborhood and an old farmhouse. I assumed that it was the original home in the neighborhood.”

It was. And with its five bedrooms, it also was the right size for the Penrods and their children — Grant, 16; Evelyn, 12; Miriam, 9; and Louisa, 6 — and the family’s cat, Suki.

Suki’s favorite spot is an upholstered bench by the front door. The rest of the family prefers the spacious screened porch, where they eat meals in the summer and the kids hang out on the daybed even in chilly fall weather.

The home has the outdoor space the family wanted, too. It sits on 3.27 acres and is one of a few homes with access to Hazard Lake.

“It’s a secret lake right in the middle of the neighborhood,” Joe Penrod said. “You don’t see it from the road.

“We have a canoe and a little rowboat,” he added. “The kids go down and paddle around. There’s a heron that’s down there quite a bit, and we like to look for it.”

Holiday Tour of Historic Homes

• What: The annual tour — this year focused on southeast Olympia — spotlights the city’s architecture and history and raises money for the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum.
• When: Noon-4 p.m. Sunday
• Where: Bigelow House Museum, 918 Glass Ave. NE, Olympia; Egbert-Ingham House, 2708 Adams St. SE, Olympia; and seven other historically significant properties
• Tickets: $25, available Sunday at the Bigelow House and Egbert-Ingham House and in advance at olympiahistory.org; Artistry in Flowers, 300 Cleveland Ave. SE, Tumwater; Drees, 524 Washington St. SE, Olympia; and Thompson’s Furniture, 5407 Capitol Blvd. SW, Tumwater
• More information: olympiahistory.org

This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 6:00 AM.