What It Could Become

Sam and Wendy Van Kirk Revive a 1931 Downtown Redding Home with Heart…

If the walls of your home could talk, what tales of joy, adventure, mystery, hardship and transition would they share with you? Houses bear witness to the people, memories and experiences that live within them, but not everyone has a front-row seat to the tales the walls tell. Sam and Wendy Van Kirk, however, know many of the stories of their 1931 West Redding home intimately. Their restoration of the pre-Shasta Dam-era home has given it even more stories to tell.

Perched on the edge of Downtown Redding’s Cultural District, the house was originally a two-bedroom house with a basement, an attic space and an outdoor sleeping porch above the garage. The home’s exterior rock façade is said to have come from the Dunsmuir quarry. Lush green ivy hugs the approaching steps.

The Van Kirks, healthcare providers who work together in private practice, were not initially looking for a house like this one, but a single visit inspired them to imagine what it could become.

“We fell in love with the potential after one walkthrough. Being a part of downtown and being able to walk to our favorite downtown businesses and events has really enhanced our feeling of being a part of the community,” say the Van Kirks.

The home has seen many iterations. The Van Kirks have never been able to determine who originally built the Depression-era home due to sketchy records and foggy memories. The first recorded buyers were Dr. R.W. Thomas and his wife, Jane K. Thomas, in 1946. Dr. Thomas was the one who originally covered the basement in pine wood, built the bar and welcomed the friends that would turn the space into a true “rumpus room.” The Thomases’ daughter shared photos with the Van Kirks from 1940s cocktail parties her parents hosted.

In another phase of life, the house served as a foster home, with the girls living in the converted attic space and the boys living in the garage.

The house was in rough shape when the Van Kirks purchased it in 2016. It had been in foreclosure in 2008 and spent many years being rented by the room.

The Van Kirks began writing another chapter in the home’s story from the moment they walked in. It began with a new name: Casa da Alegria, Portuguese for “House of Joy.” The moniker is an homage to Wendy’s maternal great-grandparents’ roots in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. “During this journey of restoration, we have brought joy into this house, as it has also filled our lives with joy,” say the Van Kirks.

Thanks to some vision, creativity and talented contractors, the house has a new life today. Wendy’s father, Ron Hunt, refinished the original wood floors, buried under years of carpet, linoleum and wood, and turned them into a work of art. Wendy’s cousin, Jordan Hunt, put Venetian plaster on the walls of the library and finished off the room with wood shelving made from their great-grandparents’ 100-year-old barn in Adin. Sam and Wendy spent their first Valentine’s Day weekend in the home, covering the laundry room walls with reclaimed wood from the old fence that had surrounded the property.

The kitchen needed the most work. It was taken down to the studs and beautifully restored by Jeff Aboud at Shasta Wood Products after his wife, Cheryl – Wendy’s high school classmate – convinced him to take on “one last residential project.” It was there that the Van Kirks discovered the original chimney from the kitchen stove. With Cousin Jordan’s help, the Van Kirks were able to create a backdrop from that chimney for a beautiful wine rack.

The house has two wood-burning fireplaces – one in the living room and one in the attic, the Van Kirks primary bedroom suite. A veranda off the attic bedroom offers stunning views of Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak and the Sundial Bridge.

The Van Kirks have worked to restore the home’s functionality while respecting its original character and design. During the process of restoring Casa da Alegria, the Van Kirks discovered some interesting layers of wallpaper and flooring, children’s toys, and even a pair of women’s red lace and leopard print panties, a likely holdover from an old laundry chute inside the closet on the main floor. Some hidden spaces were built into the home by previous owners.

“Someday, I may need to write a book about all of the stories lived within these walls,” says Wendy Van Kirk. “We have been lucky to be able to contact someone from each of the families who have owned the house before us – other than the original 1931 family. Many have come to visit the house to see our restoration work and some have shared old photos and stories of the home from their time here.”
Casa da Alegria continues to create new stories to share. In 2018, during the Carr Fire, the Van Kirks wanted to share messages of love and hope with their community when it needed them most. They began writing inspirational quotes in chalk on the front steps, as they worked with property owners in the neighborhood to fix up vacant housing for people who were without a home.

“I think our second porch message – a Mister Rogers quote – was when our home was featured on the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Home Tour. From there, we would choose quotes that were either seasonal, pertinent to current events, or related to something we were personally experiencing. People started reaching out to us, thanking us for the messages and sharing how it impacted their lives,” says Sam Van Kirk. “We often sit on our front porch in the evenings and people will stop their cars to take a photo or express their gratitude. One person told us that she turns the photos into cards and sends them to people who she feels would benefit from the message. It has all been so touching and heartwarming.  If the rain keeps us from posting for too long, we sometimes get impatient messages asking when they can expect something new.”

While the steps have gained their own fan following, for the Van Kirks, deciding which room in the house is their favorite is no easy win. It may just depend upon the season.

“It’s happily difficult to choose a favorite, but our guests usually gravitate to the bar in the basement or gather in our kitchen,” says Wendy Van Kirk. “The living room and the attic bedroom are favorites in the winter. See why it is so difficult to choose a favorite? Now that our home restoration is complete, it feels like a resort destination just hanging out in our backyard. As our 3-year-old granddaughter says, ‘This place is very cool!’”