Book celebrates Jewett House at its centennial

COEUR d’ALENE — A new book offers 100 pages of local writing inspired by a 100-year-old building.

“An Ounce of Truth” is a compendium of stories, poems, and historical excerpts centered around the beloved Jewett House built in 1917 near Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Sanders Beach.

“It isn’t very often you hear of a 100-year-old anniversary. When you do, you take note. They won’t come around again for a great while,” wrote Larry Telles, in the preface of the book compiled and published by the Idaho Writers League Coeur d’Alene Chapter.

“An Ounce of Truth” was a challenging project for Writer’s League members. After discussing the plan with the Jewett House advisory board, they were told the Jewetts were a somewhat private family, and they would not have liked the use of their name in a publication. While the name “The Jewett House” is used throughout the book, writers were not supposed to use the family members names specifically. Most of the stories and characters are fictitious, and throughout the book the home is often referenced as “the house by the lake.”

The tales range from a historical first person account of a young woman arriving by steamer train to visit her old school friend during summer break, to the story of a present-day couple caught trespassing on the property by the caretaker and then treated to an impromptu tour, to a futuristic yarn of a young woman who traveled in her family’s airship refurbished from a 300-year-old steamboat to find her missing father.

While the stories are varied, the same theme can be found throughout the book. Descriptions of the large foursquare-style home, of the grandiose natural beauty of the tall pine trees, emerald green lawn, and sandy beach leading to the waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene are found throughout the sections of the book. Some writings recount the sights of the steam ships chugging along with loads of timber; the large front porch with its wood floors and sparse wicker furniture and the huge picture windows in the front room. The writers recall how the lake is viewed from high-ceilinged rooms with built-in book shelves common to the craftsman style, stately fireplace mantles and a grand stairway to the second level.

The book also includes an informative forward by local historian Robert Singletary. He worked with the Writers League, providing information they could use, and presented about two hours of material at the start of the process back in February.

Construction of the Jewett House began in 1915 for Huntington Taylor and his family. Taylor relocated here from Wisconsin to oversee the building of the new Edward Rutledge Timber Company, which once occupied the adjacent land that The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course now encompasses. He and his family lived there until 1928, when George Jewett took over as general manager. Jewett lived there with his wife and two children until 1937, when they moved to Spokane after a merger between Rutledge Timber and Potlatch Corp., of which he later became president.

The Jewett House then became a company home used for many years to house staff and guests of the business. The house was granted to the city of Coeur d’Alene in 1978 by Potlatch Corporation as a public commodity. Since then it has been a community space and more specifically a senior citizen center, where local seniors can enjoy group activities such as yoga, Tai Chi and meditation, and also card games like Pinochle and Hand and Foot.

The home can be rented for special events like weddings, retreats, or private meetings. It is also the meeting place for the Writers League.

Telles recalls often finding himself pausing when speaking to the group in the Jewett House’s front room. With mouth agape, he would be lost in the beauty of the view through the large windows overlooking the span of lawn to the lake.

“It’s a beautiful scene because it’s real. It looks like a giant TV screen,” Telles said.

The Jewetts were known to entertain many guests at their home over the years. It has been said that Mrs. Jewett would often make and serve lemonade to children in the area who were welcomed to swim at their beach, while a big gramophone would play popular music of the times from the front porch. For the book, Telles compiled a list of the popular songs of 1916 and 1917. A fellow Writer’s League member got excited about this, as her grandfather has a large collection of sheet music. She was able to acquire some of the music listed in the collection, and these will be played by the Coeur d’Alene Symphony during the centennial celebration.

A public celebration of the anniversary will be held Sunday, Sept. 10, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Jewett House, 1501 E. Lakeshore Drive.

Mayor Steve Widmyer will perform a Tree Dedication Ceremony at 12:30. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs and enjoy some refreshments on the lawn while listening to the music from yesteryear.

Members of the Writers League will be on hand to sell and sign copies of the book. The book, published by Bitterroot Mountain Publishing in Hayden, can be purchased for $10. It is also on sale at the Saturday Kootenai County Farmers Market on the southeast corner of U.S. 95 and Prairie Avenue in Hayden, and the Wednesday Downtown Farmers Market at Sherman Avenue and Fifth Street.

Proceeds from book sales will go to recover some publication costs and to help fund the centennial celebration.