Restoring The Benham - Johnston Bungalow

The yard has come a long way from how it was when I bought the house in 2020. The rock is from a quarry in Montana. The large spruce tree was planted in the 1920s/1930s, and the cedar is more recent. Everything else has been planted over the last two seasons as the yard was just scoria gravel before.

Hello Everyone,
Here is a photo of my 1915 Craftsman Bungalow that I have spent the last two years restoring. It has been a while since I have shared any photos. I bought the house when I was 17 (it was my first real estate purchase). It had been a rental and had lost much of it's original charm. In restoring it, I have tried to bring it back to close to it's original state/appearance through using period appropriate colors throughout, stripping and refinishing the woodwork, installing authentic lighting, restoring the original double hung windows, etc. I am now nearing the end of the process (though I'm sure I'll never truly be done) and am pleased with how it's turning out. I am furnishing it with antiques (many of which I've sourced through my antique store) and am going to operate it as a vacation rental.

So nice to have the widows clean at last!

The kitchen is coming along nicely! Hanging the doors this evening.

Last year for Christmas a friend of mine gave me this drawing of the Coffeen house that she had done. I think it turned out great! Katie Clark Fryberger

One of the largest improvements I made was replicating and reinstalling the banister in the living room. It had been removed decades ago in an attempt to modernize the house. I was able to reproduce it from old photographs and remaining nail holes. We used salvaged douglas fir from an old building in town to match the existing woodwork. It is one of the most defining features that exemplifies the arts and crafts style of the home.

Another lost detail that I was able to replace in the house is the picture rail. Although largely decorative now, it was originally used to hang pictures from to avoid damaging the lath and plaster walls. I had a local fabrication company mill 1" × 2" boards into the original profile. The shadows were left on the walls from where it had been, so I was able to reinstall it in the original locations. I intend to use it for its original purpose.

In the 40s or 50s all of the woodwork was painted in the house. Originally, it was a rich, dark reddish color with a varnish on it. Some of it had later been stripped but was left unfinished. Steve Baskin of Lost Arts Restorations was able to help me come up with a formula to replicate the original, and I am very happy with the results! We stripped all of the woodwork throughout the first floor and stained/varnished everything to resemble the original finish. Steve was also able to repair extensive damage from a dog on the swinging door leading to the kitchen. The house looks so much better with the woodwork restored!

Restoring the exterior of the house was a huge undertaking. Steve Bourne was a tremendous asset with experience with many other restoration projects, including restoring the original windows of the Sheridan Inn (a local historic landmark). I was able to find the original colors under layers of paint and by colorizing vintage photos of the property. Steve stripped nearly the entire house, replaced over 100' of damaged cedar lap siding, primed, and painted the house in the original paint scheme (to name a few things). We also restored all of the original double hung windows and storms, which included reglazing, replacing broken glass with salvaged wavy glass, and repairing damaged mullions. Taking this much time and effort in restoring the exterior ensures lasting results.

When the house was constructed in 1915 for Geo. H Benham it was noted in the Sheridan Enterprise as being a "modern home" as it was equipped with steam heat, electricity throughout, two full bathrooms, a "California cooler" in the kitchen, and a full concrete basement. Most of these amenities were somewhat unusual for the time and had come into fashion around the turn of the century. Benham was the Treasurer of Bighorn Lumber (a large lumber supply company for the region). In 1923, the home was sold to Wm. H Johnston. His family owned the home into the 60s. Then, there were three subsequent owners of the property until I purchased it, making me the 6th owner of the home.

Here are some of the listing photos showing how the house looked when I bought it. There was lots of work to be done, but also a lot of potential!

Hello Everyone,
My name is Luke Knudson. I purchased this home in February of 2020 when I was 17 and have been working on restoring it since. Being passionate about historic preservation, I've wanted to bring the house back to nearly its original state. Amazingly, most of the original details including the woodwork, windows, built-ins, wood floors, bathroom fixtures, and even the kitchen cabinets had survived, so it has been exciting to restore these original elements that make the house so authentic. Through opening an antique store at age 13 (that I have owned and operated since) and serving on the board of a local historic house museum for 5+ years, I have gained valuable experience in historic preservation that has helped immensely with this project. I hope you enjoy looking at what I and some other talented tradespeople have accomplished.

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