Neely Mansion Site Specific
Page 2
Neely Mansion Association
Site Specific Project
Call for Letters of Interest
Deadline October 3, 2011
The Neely Mansion Association is seeking letters from individuals or organizations interested in stimulating community participation through the creation of public events and activities at the historic Neely Mansion and surrounding grounds, based on the history of this fully restored 19th century home.
The Neely Mansion is located at 12303 SE Auburn Black Diamond Road, Auburn, WA 98002 in unincorporated King County north of Auburn.
Project
The Neely Mansion Association, a non-profit organization that oversees the restoration, maintenance, and programming of the house, has applied for and received awards from the 4Culture Site Specific Arts and Heritage Special Projects Programs programs to develop one or more collaborative artistic creative projects. Projects will explore the richly layered history of the house while engaging the community in a deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultural relevance of this historic King County landmark. (See background statement below). Current efforts are underway to research and complete a comprehensive narrative on the colorful history of this house since its original construction by the Neely family in the late 1800’s.
Letters of Interest
This call for letters of interest is open to all King County individuals and organizations. The letter should include applicant contact information, relevant experience, accomplishments and/or employment history, and one or more general concepts for activating the home and/or gardens with performances, exhibitions or activities. Visual or audio examples of past work are encouraged but not required, (submitted on CD/DVD or website address). All disciplines and genres are welcome for consideration including theater, music, storytelling, film or digital media, visual art, sculpture, fashion and design, gardening, culinary, durational or seasonal events and activities, and community participatory events.
Please note: The letter of interest is not a call for formal proposals, but merely the opportunity to discover what types of projects the applicant may be interested in developing. Once selected, applicants will have the opportunity to develop a more detailed proposal which may vary from the original idea.
Site Visits and Background
Potential applicants may wish to learn more about the history of the Neely Mansion and related history of the Auburn/ South King County area. The 4Culture Heritage and Historic Preservation Programs maintain a library of publications and resources about the history of Auburn and the South King County area. Visits to the house may be arranged by contacting the Neely Mansion project coordinator Linda Van Nest at (206) 818-4115, or; , after August 8th.
Project Scope and Budget
Available funding from 4Culture and the Neely Mansion Association for this project will not exceed $20,000. Additional funding may be obtained by the applicant through fundraising, in-kind donations, admission fees, and grant writing. All fees and project expenses will be subject to negotiation upon review of final proposals.
Selection Process and Timeline
October 3, 2011 – Deadline for Letters of Interest
October/November 2011 – Selection and Interviews with qualified candidates
January 2012 – Deadline for invited proposals from selected candidates. An honorarium will be offered to applicants for this stage of the process.
February 2012 - Final Interviews and Proposal Selection Process – One or more proposals will be selected for development and implementation.
March – December 2012 – Project implementation
Project Contacts
Neely Mansion Association
Linda Van Nest, - (253) 927-4250; (After August 8th)
4Culture
4Culture Heritage Program – Eric Taylor (206) 296-8688
4Culture Historic Preservation Program – Flo Lentz (206) 296-8682
4Culture Arts Program – Charlie Rathbun (206) 296-8675
Please address Letters of Interest to:
Linda Van Nest
Neely Mansion Art Project
6402 Eastside Dr. NE Apt. 6
Tacoma, WA 98422-1172
STORY OF THE NEELY MANSION
Auburn, WA
The Neely Mansion is a familiar landmark on the outskirts of Auburn. Passersby on SR 18 can’t help but notice the two-story, square farmhouse with its unusually elaborate millwork and tall, Victorian-era windows and doors. It seems out of place, the relic of another era. The full story of settlement and farming in the White River Valley is embodied in this remarkable site.
The fertile White River Valley was one of the earliest pockets of settlement in King County. Aaron Neely, a pioneer that arrived with his family as a small child, first claimed this strategically located, 120-acre parcel in 1878. In his prosperous middle years, he built a large new farmhouse with gingerbread trim, overlooking the banks of the nearby Green River. Local tradition has it that the Neely family held lavish parties here for friends and neighbors.
But shortly after the turn of the century, the Neely’s moved into Auburn, and rented the property to a succession of tenants. The first tenants were Ernst Galli of Switzerland and his Swedish wife Hannah Simu Galli. Both first generation immigrants to America, they met at the Kleinberg Dairy in the nearby village of Thomas. With a loan from the bank, they leased the Neely farm and established a dairy. By 1912, the couple and their son Arnold (born on the Neely place), had saved enough to buy their own farm.
The next family of tenants was that of Matasuke Fukuda of Japan, his wife Toku, and son Sentaro or “Sam.” Sam and his wife, a picture bride, helped manage what grew into a large dairy of 300 cows, and grew rhubarb and corn. Eighteen years later, the Fukuda’s cancelled their lease when milk prices plummeted at the onset of the Great Depression in 1930.
From 1930 to 1936, Shigeichi and Shimano Hori, with their five children, leased the farm. They kept a small dairy, but focused on strawberry and rhubarb crops. Shigeichi “worked out” at a packing shed in Kent, while other family members operated the farm. Daughter Mary Hori sold their strawberries at a farm stand beside the road. The Hori’s built a bathhouse or “furo” that still stands behind the mansion today. There the whole family soaked, socialized, and relaxed each evening in traditional Japanese fashion.
In 1941, the Neely’s returned to live in the mansion for about five years, for reasons not known. They leased part, and eventually all, of the farm to Pete Acosta, a migrant worker from the Phillippines. Pete married a Caucasian woman, June Johnston. Together they grew blackberries, cauliflower, beans, cucumbers, kohlrabi, potatoes, tomatoes, rhubarb and corn. The Acosta’s didn’t live in the decaying mansion, which lacked indoor plumbing, but boarded other Filipino workers there, some of them on a harvest route from Alaskan canneries to the Napa Valley. These workers kept pigeons in the upstairs, and cocks for fighting in the old rhubarb shed. The Acosta’s farmed the Neely place for twenty years, until retiring in 1961. Single, male laborers continued to occupy the house until the mid-1970s, when the property was acquired from the Neely family by the Auburn Arts Council. In 1983, that group transferred it to the newly formed Neely Mansion Association, which then began a phased restoration of the house to the Neely era.