Why John and Barbara live 'in' history

By Lynn Steinberg
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

For 32 years, John and Barbara Nelson have lived in what is arguably the oldest house in Richmond Beach. It dates to 1895 and is where Richmond Beach's first pioneer child, Lena Holloway, was born.

John Nelson remembers seeing a newspaper advertisement for the house, in which it was described as "an old coaching inn where weary travelers rested on the way to Everett."

The guy was way off the mark.

"It was a fanciful ad," Nelson says, "and I went to laugh at him."

Nelson wound up buying the house.

"I walked in," Nelson recalls, "and I felt like I came home."

That was 1966, and for the next 10 years Nelson and his wife often left home without locking their doors. Every now and then, they would return to find the girl next door sitting on their couch doing her schoolwork. She had three brothers, and the Nelson residence was the only place she could find quiet.

But times have changed and Nelson now regularly locks his doors.

Still, he considers Richmond Beach a fine place to live. It's scenic. It's tranquil. And he's been blessed with good neighbors -- the kind who lend a hand when you need it and like nothing better than an excuse to stop on the street and talk.