Visitors to New Woodinville Heritage Museum Can Step Back in Time

It’s easy to focus on the items that fill the new Woodinville Heritage Museum.

A Paragon treadle sewing machine; a silver brush and mirror set on a wooden dresser; a Bible that belonged to the father of one of Woodinville’s founders.

But it’s the lives connected to them that are the focal point.

“The possessions supplement the stories; the stories don’t supplement the possessions,” says Lucy DeYoung, president of the Woodinville Heritage Society, which has worked the past three years to prepare a permanent home for its collections.

This weekend, the group will unveil the Woodinville Heritage Museum in the DeYoung House, a building with a history of its own.

Heritage Society members were putting the finishing touches on the museum last week and gave Patch an early peek at the restored Dutch Colonial.

A short walk up a floral-carpeted staircase leads to wood-floored rooms, each with a name and unique display. The Derby Room is laid out like a young girl’s room, with a patchwork quilt on the bed, a wooden dollhouse in a corner, and silver grooming items on the dresser between floral-painted hurricane lamps.

In the Cottage Lake Room, Heritage Society Vice President Suzi Freeman points out a washtub and wringer and explains what was a weekly routine for most women: washing on Mondays, ironing on Tuesdays, baking later in the week.

In another room, black and white photos are temporarily spread on the floor. This is where visitors will learn about the people who once called the house “home.”

Lucy DeYoung--whose grandparents, John and Ellen DeYoung, had the house built in 1931--explains some of the items in the DeYoung Room, including an old phonograph that she remembers used to be downstairs.

“As kids we came over and played and stayed (in the house),” she recalls.

The building originally stood on Northeast 175^th Street at 135^th Avenue Northeast, where is now located.

When John DeYoung died, the parcel where the house stood was sold to Shoreline Savings, which gave the house to Harlin D. Peterson if he would move it, according to a Heritage Society history about the building. Peterson moved it in 1973 to its current location at 14121 N.E. 171^st St., just south of the .

In 2008, Lucy DeYoung’s father, Al, and uncle Lowell bought the house when it came on the market and donated it to the Heritage Society for a museum.

Surrounded by family photos, DeYoung tears up for a moment as she reflects on pulling together her family’s history for the display. After a pause, she says, “It’s nice to be able to do something for the community, and it’s nice to be able to showcase it. Young people can come in and learn about the history of the community.”

The Heritage Society, established in 1975, has made six DVDs to help showcase that history of Woodinville residents, with titles such as “Memories of Life on Hollywood Hill,” and “Life in Woodinville as told by the DeYoung Family.”

Visitors can find copies for purchase in the museum, along with picture postcards of Woodinville from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The museum displays, like the community, will change over time.

IF YOU GO

The museum grand opening is set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 16, with the ribbon cutting ceremony at noon.

The museum will be open to the public on Sundays. Admission is free, though the Heritage Society will gladly accept donations.

The 100-member Heritage Society is also looking for volunteers who want to help work at the museum when it’s open, as well as work on other projects, such as cataloging its collection of items. Anyone interested in participating can contact Marilyn Fullmer at marilyn.fullmer@frontier.com, or 425-788-9862.