Meet Mike Tripp, Master Safe Mechanic

“There’s something about the daunting look of an antique safe that just inspires the inner outlaw in everybody. While hardly anyone’s going around and cracking open bank safes anymore using stethoscopes and daring countenance, these once highly useful repositories have become beloved collectors items today.” -from the Love to Know blog

The vintage Hall’s Safe we’ve been rehabbing at a nearby historic home in the South Hill neighborhood of Spokane benefited from a checkup and day surgery by master safe mechanic Mike Tripp.

After scrubbing in, Tripp pointed to the signature emblazoned on the safe door, noting that his patient had been worked on by renowned safe mechanic C. L. Corey of Spokane, who was active in Spokane in the 1930s.

Tripp noted that C.L. Corey wrote a book about the safe business  in early Spokane, actually a diary that was later published into book form.

“When I get back to my shop library, I’ll look in my copy of Corey’s book to see if there is a reference to your safe,” Tripp said. Stay tuned!

While the EPH restoration crew observed and documented the operation, Tripp extracted the rotating plates that are responsible for unlocking and locking the safe (photos).

Mike Tripp identified the previous drill holes, one of them most likely by Corey in 1932, according to the notes on the internal panel.

This has been a fun project, and we are thankful to learn its history and to know that this classic safe is getting the attention it needs.

Little Free Library Charms Visitors to the Eikenbary-Pierce House

Media Production Studio, Powder Room Come to Life

Finding effective ways to tell the story of the structure and communicate with the community is an important mission at the historic Eikenbary-Pierce House in the Cliff-Canon neighborhood on Spokane’s South Hill.

Photos, from top: Studio powder room renovation; crown molding; finishing studio stair railings; powder room insulation.

In the latest stage of the restoration, “we have been converting the darkroom that Dr Eikenbary used for his photography to a ‘powder room’ next to what will be a media production studio,” said project manager Henry A. Pierce III.

“Growing up, my sister and I called the room we’re creating the studio in, the “playroom.” It was where we played and did our homework on two antique school desks with inkwells.”

In transforming the powder room, crew preserved as much of the character of Dr. Eikenbary’s original darkroom as possible, while making the space modern and functional.

First, project engineers removed the 100-year-old plaster and installed new insulation along with plumbing and electrical improvements. Then they applied drywall and surfaced the walls. After carefully dislodging and reconditioning the original moldings, they reset the trim in its original position.

Concurrent with the darkroom makeover, the crew is renovating the former playroom into a state-of-the-art studio for video and audio podcast production. The playroom-turned-studio has been fitted with high-speed internet and local-area-network cables to facilitate media production and communication.

The crew sanded the original maple floors in the studio space with a dual-axial mechanical sander and applied two-part urethane to preserve the original patina.

In the studio, Henry aims to record and edit the story of EPH and produce other local historical documentaries. He plans to collaborate with and provide studio time to members of the community to tell their stories.

“Painstaking and detailed as it is, the restoration process captivates me. I’d rather spend resources and time on this project than pursue personal creature comforts,” said Henry (photos). “I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment as the Eikenbary-Pierce House comes back to life. It will be fun to create programs in the studio that tell the history of the house and give a voice to the people of the community.”

Little Free Library:
A Source of Joy at the EPH

Some visitors bring books, others borrow a book. Some stay to chat and learn more about the Craftsman home restoration, enjoy refreshments, or sign the guest book.

Zack the Mason takes charge of chimney reconstruction

The flat roof gutters made by Carlson Sheet Metal are now ready for installation after some welding to set in the plumbing connections. “Carlson is a versatile shop that can produce anything made of sheet metal,” said project engineer Henry A. Pierce III.

In the middle photo, the crew has erected scaffolding to access the gutter locations on the south side of the house.

“We invested in a good amount of scaffolding for this phase of the project,” said project coordinator Henry A. Pierce III, the third member of the Pierce family to live in the house since his grandfather purchased it from Charles Eikenbary in 1922.

The crew also removed decayed wood from the structure on the first floor porch (bottom photo), where a special drainage system will be built into the floor.

“The house is approximately 50 feet long, so the drainage is split in the middle to drain to each end of the 50-foot run,” said Henry. “The neighbors will be glad when this system is in place – you can see how close the next house is.”

Restoring the Pillar Facings at the Eikenbary-Pierce House

At the close of the work day today, we could start to visualize the finished exterior, so very different from our earlier memories of it as a white house, still grand but sorely in need of repair. The structural part of the porch “pillars”are hefty, square internal beams that support the second-floor wraparound porch. The decorative facing gives a stronger stylistic appearance to the pillars and is an original element of the Craftsman style epitomized by the Eikenbary-Pierce House.

Project design consultant Mick Deviny meticulously painted and fitted the pillar cap pieces together. It took considerable measuring, fitting and adjustment to achieve the right fit. “I observed much of the process today from my home near Boston, via the live webcam,” said EPH Newsletter editor Charlotte Pierce. “It’s a fascinating glimpse into the restoration process. And Henry and Mick work so well together; you can tell they’re longtime friends.” Those interested in viewing the action on the webcams can sign up on the EPH contact form for the link and access code.

Here are the latest among the steady stream of visitors to the Eikenbary-Pierce House. 

Some visitors bring books, others borrow a book. Some stay to chat and learn more about the Craftsman home restoration, enjoy refreshments, or sign the guest book.

Project director Henry Pierce put the Porter Cable 4216 to use today. He attached a 12-inch deluxe dovetail jig combination kit to create joints for a display box for artifacts from the house, noting that the items “are best stored in boxes like this.”

Susan Freeman of Pioneer Memorial Gardens of Moses Lake donated the jig for the Eikenbary-Pierce House project.

“Dovetail joints are a classic, substantial way of building,” explained Henry. “It also gives more surface area for the glue to adhere and makes a longer-lasting joint. The wood scraps are surplus from the job, so we can avoid waste and create something beautiful at the same time.”

TIPS: For the perfect joint on the Porter Cable 4216, all edges need to be lined up flush at 90 degrees. Even a 1/32″ shift will diminish the end result, especially with plywood, since sanding can cause fraying. Solid hardwood or a dense-grained wood works best. Practicing with the half blind template helps perfect your technique; and keep in mind that any add-on template guides need to be compatible with the 4216. 

Tanya Starkel of Avenue Stone Real Estate brightened our day by stopping by to check out our new Little Free Library and greet project director Henry Pierce III while he was at the porch-pillar reconstruction workstation. Constructed and installed the week of August 21 by Henry and EPH project engineer Mick Deviny, the library has already dispensed several dozen House newsletters to visitors like Tanya and  neighbors who are delighted to see the restoration going forward. Friends and neighbors have also brought a few of their own books to share. It’s fun to see the stacks building and changing!

Through the international network of Little Free Libraries, millions of books are exchanged each year, increasing access to knowledge for readers of all ages and backgrounds. We hope that our sweet little addition to the worldwide network of small, free book nooks inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by facilitating a neighborhood book exchange.

The Eikenbary-Pierce House will be stocking our Little Free Library (Charter #77001) with our quarterly newsletter and books  that our grandfather, Henry Pierce Sr. received during his tenure as editor at the Spokane Daily Chronicle. Check out these vintage books, add your own books for the community to read, pick up a newsletter, and sign our guest book or drop a

Here are a few of the week’s steady stream of visitors.

Dog walkers and joggers are regular visitors.