Silvana Olson house gets vibrant new life

A historic home in Silvana that sat vacant and neglected for years, has gone from no-place to showplace.

The house, located at 1921 Ole Larson Road, was built in 1907 as the parsonage for the Zion Lutheran Church.

The Olson brothers, who were local farmers and church members, donated the property.

Zion Lutheran, which opened its doors is 1898, is now known as the Little White Church on the Hill and overlooks the Stillaguamish Valley at 23605 Pioneer Highway — about seven miles southeast of downtown Stanwood.

After many years of use, the parsonage, which sits about a mile from the church, was eventually sold and became a private residence.

According to local residents, the property, which is known as the Olson homestead, was abandoned many years ago and was often illegally occupied.

The house was also vandalized with such things as graffiti and damage to the woodwork—most of the windows were also broken out.

Eventually it became an illegal dumping ground and was covered with garbage, including over a dozen cars and recreational vehicles.

For the last several years, this once-stately home could best be described as an eyesore.

Beth and Kevin Ivey, owners of Keys Property Investment, LLC saw something completely different—they saw a charming old house in a bucolic setting filled with potential.

The Iveys, who relocated to Marysville from Alaska six years ago, became involved in real estate as a matter of necessity.

“About four years ago, the rental we were living in was put up for sale,” Beth Ivey said.

The couple, who are parents to young twins, had busy lives and moving seemed like the last things they wanted to do.

The decided to look into becoming homeowners instead of renters.

“We did our research on the housing market and Kevin started looking at all the ways real estate is bought and sold,” Ivey said. “He became especially interested in how houses in foreclosure were often sold at auction at an affordable price.”

The Iveys ended up buying the house they were renting.

This turned out to be just the beginning of their real estate adventure.

Kevin, who had worked in the restaurant industry for years and was ready for a change, starting bidding on properties that he thought they could renovate and sell for a profit.

“After purchasing a house in Deming, we officially became flippers,” Beth Ivey said.

The Silvana house is the couple’s eighth project.

“We saw pictures of the house online but bought the property without an actual sight visit, as we have with most of our other flips,” she said.

They were the only bidders and acquired the house, which sits on just over an acre, for $254,594 in October of 2021.

“We knew it was a big cleanup job and full renovation but the price was right and we were ready for a challenge,” Ivey said.

They hired a hauling company to remove the tons of garbage, which included three RVs, thirteen cars and a boat.

The couple did all the demo work themselves, including removing the original lath and plaster from the walls of the structure.

For the renovation, which began in early 2022, the Iveys worked closely with their realtor Cheryl Buck, of Buck Real Estate, on the design

“Of course, we knew that virtually everything in the house needed to be updated—including adding bathrooms, modernizing electrical, plumbing and the HVAC system,” Buck said. “But the house had such good bones and it’s a classic example of American Foursquare architecture.”

American Foursquare was a popular home style in the early 1900s that was characterized by wide porches and well-proportioned rooms with several bedrooms.

There are many examples of this architectural style in the Stanwood area, including the Lady Florence event rental property located several miles west of the Olson homestead.

After the demo was complete, the ambitious work of transforming the structure began.

“We were able to save some of the old fir floors, parts of the woodwork and the beautiful old staircase, which was really exciting,” Beth Ivey said. “We had to reconfigure a lot of the floor space, including the kitchen, dining area and existing bathroom, to be able to modernize and update for today’s conveniences.”

The Iveys worked with real estate agent Cheryl Folgmann, who is also a staging specialist, to come up with the interior style.

“We wanted a look that was clean and modern but also had warm farmhouse appeal,” Folgmann said. “We also wanted to take advantage of all the natural light that was available due to the home’s open location.”

When the house was finished the entire team was pleased with the outcome.

“This was just such a special project,” Beth Ivey said. “To bring this historic old place back from the brink was just so satisfying. I think with all the care and effort we put into this house, it will be around for at least 100 more years.”

Need to update closer to publication date: The house sold in xxx for $xxx.