Alaska Heritage House Bed and Breakfast

410 Cowles Street, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Innkeeper(s): Virginia Newstrom
 
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Table Of Contents

  • Introduction

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    The elegant Alaska Heritage House has 7 luxurious bedrooms for guests to enjoy. It is ideally located within walking distance of shops, businesses, museums, and many restaurants in downtown Fairbanks.

    Newly refurbished, the Alaska Heritage House is the ideal place for celebrating life. This home is filled with surprises of days gone by with great attention to detail. Antiques abound. The 1875 dining room set came around the horn and up the Yukon River by Sternwheeler. This beautiful dining room is the ideal place to enjoy a wonderful Alaskan Breakfast to start off your day.

    A National Historic Register Home



    The sitting room is very elegant and an ideal location for that special celebration. There are spacious suites with parlors, sculleries(kitchens), and water-closets(baths). There are comfortable bedrooms with lounging beds tucked under the eaves for that extra person when needed. Every bedroom has its own private bath except the Maids' Room.

    Its down town location makes it especially suitable for the business traveler. Each room has wireless internet, a fridge, coffee maker, and telephone. The parlor and dining room are ideal for Small Meetings and Groups.



    The Alaska Heritage House is that special place that will long be remembered when your stay is over. It is listed on the Downtown Fairbanks Walking Tour as the Mary Lee Davis House (#21)

  • History

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    Photographed in 1919

    Photographed in 1919

    The Alaska Heritage House was built in 1916 by Mr. Arthur Williams, the proprietor of the Arcade Cafe on 1st Avenue here in Fairbanks. He had fallen in love with Lucille, a fun loving woman in Dawson, YT. She refused to move to Fairbanks unless Arthur bought her "the Home of her Dreams". He wasted no time in having the house shipped up from the west coast in one huge package.

    It was a glorious bungalow with ten foot ceilings throughout the main floor. It had the first oak floor in Fairbanks, and the first actual masonry fireplace in Fairbanks! The walls were filled with sawdust for insulation. The dining room had similar columns as were found in Arthurs' Arcade Cafe- an upscale restaurant of early Fairbanks which burnt to the ground in 1919.

    The Williams lived happily here for three years until Arthur died unexpectedly. His distraught Lucille, sold her beautiful home and left for Seattle soon after. Although she left Fairbanks on a sternwheeler many years ago, some have felt her fun-loving presence here to this day.

    Mary Lee Davis and her husband were the next owners of 410 Cowles Street. Mary was a writer from New York. She loved Alaska and the people of this far north region of the world. In 'WE ARE ALASKANS' copyrighted 1931, she wrote about 'her beloved grey house with a green roof' and included pictures of 410 Cowles St. in the early 1920s'. On Oct. 9, 1924, Mrs. Davis sold her house to F.E. Gold Company. The Alaska Heritage House was used to house the managers and higher ups in the famous gold company. They owned it from 1924 through 1963.

    Here is a Time Line of people who have lived in and
    enjoyed the Alaska Heritage House from 1916 to this day:

    1. Lucille Williams [wife of Arcade Cafe owner ArthurWilliams] 1916-1919
    2. Mary Lee Davis & husband [Alaskan author& Mining Engineer] 1919-1924
    3. F.E. Gold Company 1924-1963
      Metcalfe [Manager F.E. Gold Company] 1924-1926
    4. Mr. & Mrs.Egleston 1927-1936
    5. Roy B. Earling [V. P. USSR &M Co.] 1938-1940
    6. Bert Ogburn 1941
    7. C.E. Osborne 1944-1945
    8. R.H. Ogburn [Ass. Gen.Manager USSR&M Co.] 1946-1950
    9. James D.&Alta M.Crawford [Manager F.E.Co.] 1950-1952
    10. Theo & Audrey Loftus [Thawing Superintendent USSR&M Co.] 1959-1963
    11. Garth & Pauline Dewater [Insur. Agent] 1963-1966
    12. J.L.& Hannah Anderson [Exc.V.P. Wien Airlines] 1966-1967
    13. "Henry III Tiffany" (sublet) [UofA Student] 1968
    14. J.L & Hannah Anderson [Wien Pilot] 1969-1971
    15. Grant A.& Lucinda Newman [IRS] 1972-1974
    16. Karen Fox [Teacher] 1974- 1976
    17. Patrick Easley [Shopkeeper "Popourre"] 1976- 1978
    18. Randall &Debra Wallace [Plumber & Piano Teacher] 1979-2005
    19. Jacqueline Haydon & Frank Brown 2005-2009
      [Restoration Team- Alaska Heritage House] 2005-2008
    20. Bill Albee, Van Newstrom & (Present)
 
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