The house that brought them together

COEUR d'ALENE - No doubt about it, Harvey Davey could build.

The man knew bricks and mortar. He knew how to make walls that stood the test of time. He knew what it took for a strong foundation.

That's why, 104 years later, the Greenbriar Inn still stands.

The 6,000-square-foot, three-story building with its storied history remains one of Coeur d'Alene most treasured structures, having withstood the onslaught of North Idaho's snows, rains and winds.

Today, it is owned by Bob and Kris McIlvenna, and is a resounding success story. From 315 Wallace Ave., they operate the Greenbriar Inn bed and breakfast, Greenbriar Catering, 315 Restaurant and Martini Bar, and they sell Wildbeary Huckleberry Products, a division of Greenbriar Foods, to 250 retail stores in the northwest.

But as busy as the McIlvennas are, they have never forgotten about Harvey Davey, the man who built Greenbriar.

"This is basically what he built," Kris said, as she sat in the foyer of the inn.

A dining room was added in 1999, bathrooms and kitchens too. The integrity, though, remains intact.

"We have never moved any walls. We've never done anything to the structure interior wise," Kris said. "He was a great builder."

And now, this week, his family knows that too.

Relatives of Harvey Davey gathered at the Greenbriar for a reunion, and to learn about the man who left his legacy in Coeur d'Alene.

Alice Davey, great-great-granddaughter of Harvey Davey, began researching his history about a year and a half ago. She didn't know much about him, so she started with the Internet. His name popped up at the Greenbriar's website.

That's when Alice, from Monson, Mass., called Kris.

"I shared everything I knew about him," Kris said.

The more they chatted, the more it became clear to Alice Davey she and her family needed to travel to Coeur d'Alene.

Last weekend, nearly 20 of them, including Harvey's grandson "Doc" Robert Davey. There were great-grandsons and daughters and great-great-grandsons and daughters.

Kris said her daughter, Gwen, flew out too, with her six children, to meet the Davey clan.

"She was very instrumental in helping refurbish and restore the inn," Kris said of her daughter. "She was 8 when we moved in."

The Daveys and McIlvennas found they shared similar heritage, both with Norwegian and German ancestry. There were common first and middle names, many of the same interests.

"It was kind of seredipidy," Kris said.

She said Harvey moved to Coeur d'Alene from Sandpoint in 1908, just as the town was booming. Mining, timber and logging were gaining steam. Houses were going up as the population doubled from 5,000 to about 10,000 in four years.

Harvey was there to build them.

"He moved out here to take advantage of that," Kris said.

The home Harvey Davey built for his wife Carrie is filled with history. It was a boarding house and later, a bordello. It was owned by Northern Pacific Railway, and its executives lived here. It was used as an apartment building, a headquarters for health and welfare, and eventually, purchased by the Catholic church and served as a home for nuns.

"I have pictures from every era," Kris said.

The McIlvennas bought it in 1984 from the church. It was in disrepair by then, with water damage throughout, and had been vacant four years.

"It was quite a challenge to get it going," she said.

The task of restoring and improving took years, patience and commitment, but today the Greenbriar is again thriving, with 30 employees, and gearing up for the busy summer season.

Still, present is linked to past. Kris holds a picture of Harvey Davey, with his son Omri Davey and his grandson "Doc" Robert Davey.

Harvey, she says, was building up until two years before his death in 1949 at the age of 90. His skills as an engineer, a brick layer, remain.

"The house has this formation of bricks above each window and each door," Kris said. "Other buildings in the area have the same formation. Those are his buildings."

The Davey family returned home this week. Kris looks back fondly on their time together.

That first day, they talked for three hours. The next, five hours.

"It was an amazing exchange of information," she added. "It was kind of neat I was learning things about him I couldn't have known otherwise, and vice versa."

"It was like we were friends for years and I just met them two days ago," she said. "We had a lot to share."