Historic Langley

1910: House built

1946/47. 207 Anthes Avenue (arrow) (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society).

The house was occupied by Doctor Linda Henry Barry in 1918. According to Esther Moe, "We were fortunate in the Langley area during the 1918 flu epidemic to have a fine country doctor, Dr. Barry. He was an old Army doctor and had served many years in Mexico. He lived in the large white house at the foot of the hill on Anthes Avenue."

1952. House (arrow) looking east (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society).

It was then home to the Svedbergs and the Svedberg's Funeral parlor. According to Fran Johnson, "The mortuary was below and the living quarters upstairs. I babysat with Mr. Daniels who died in 1942 in the viewing room. I sat on a couch and didn't move a muscle. Kurt Gordon's mother Ann lived there after the Svedberges moved up to Third and Park.

Betty Hensley remembers, "The field where Brookhaven now stands was the site of the circus. The elephants would set up the tents. They did all the work. The Svedbergs across the street supplied water and the kids would fill buckets and carry them across to the elephants. The elephant would take one long swig and empty the pail that the children would then take back and fill again." For this work, Betty received 10 cents which allowed her to get in to see the show.

Circa 1960: Small building on Melsen Alley

A small one-story, cement block building along Melsen Alley was constructed on the property between 1952 and 1964.

Circa 1964. Small building along Melsen Alley (arrow) (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society).

It’s original purpose was to serve as a "birthing house" that may have been used by several doctors.

1975. Small building (arrow) Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society)

The property was bought by Wally and Kathy Bunker in 1984, who rented the small building to George and Rona Ishikawa. They had a flat glass studio & Transporter Express until 1991 when the Bunkers wanted to use the building to expand their magnet business.

According to Rona, "The building’s front door faced the back of the 207 Anthes building. The Bunkers rented the building ‘as is’. We cleaned, painted, replaced flooring tile in the studio & other repairs etc. Guess we did a good job. Kathy & Wally always brought over all their friends to see the building.

The building had four rooms that included a bathroom. The larger room was our flat glass studio. Another room was the design studio and office.

I started a shipping service company called Transporter Express (1983 to 1991) in the extra room. We provided gift wrapping and packing, and shipped via UPS & Federal Express. We started the shipping business to get customers to come into our hidden but established flat glass studio."

The Bunkers sold the property to Dominique and Chris Wagner in 1992.

Ursula Roosen-Runge and Charles Scurlock had a consulting firm (consulting firm) in the building from 1997/98 to 2002.

Janet Ploof did upholstery in the building for a short time after SLR moved out. According to Janet, “It’s three rooms and a bathroom with lots of windows made it good as a work space”

Celia Black and Gwen Jones’ publicists Allikat productions occupied the building in 2007, and WAIF had office there briefly.

Circa 1985. House between Ploof's dental office and residence (left) and the Whidbey Record office (right) (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society).

1992: New foundation.

1992. House raised for new foundation (Courtesy Marjorie Dente).

The building owned by Dominique and Chris Wagner was raised and a new foundation laid. The couple planned to live above and run their "software writing company" on the first floor. (South Whidbey Record July 21, 1992).

Several businesses occupied the building including an architect and a naturopath.

2007. Building for sale (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

The property was sold to Paul and Carol Stokke in 2012.

2018: Acupuncture and Massage

2018. (Courtesy Robert Waterman).