information from Southwest Seattle Historical Society

A century ago, the home at 1750 Palm Ave. S.W. probably was the most gawked-at, talked-about residence in West Seattle.

“Everybody wanted to see it,” says 90-year-old Joe James, whose grandfather – Ye Olde Curiosity Shop founder Joseph Edward “Daddy” Standley – built the house in 1906. “Sightseeing buses used to stop there on their tours and let people out to look at the yard. He had everything in there you could think of, from whale jawbones to whale vertebrae to totem poles to shell mounds.”

Often, visitors were allowed to venture inside.

“He had a lot of curios in the house, things that he had collected,” James says. “He had a miniature collection and an ivory collection and all of that. People would come up to the fence, and he’d invite them into the house and show them what else he had. My mother never knew who was going to come into the house. He was very friendly to these people and very proud to show them his collection.”

On Sunday, June 28, 2015, the home will be the site of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s third annual “If These Walls Could Talk” home tour, to run from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

NOTE: The tour is the Sunday prior to the Wednesday, July 1, reopening of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, which has been closed since Oct. 1 for city seawall construction.

Attendees will have an opportunity to tour the residence (now owned by Katy and Erik Walum), view historical photographs of the house and property and learn about the remarkable life of Standley.
In addition, they will see a selection of curios and family keepsakes on loan from the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, including a variety of Indian baskets, a 3-foot totem that greeted shop visitors in the early 1900s, and an antique cradle that has rocked five generations of Standley children.

They also will be able to meet Joe James, his son Andy and other members of the Standley clan, who for 116 years have welcomed curiosity-seekers at their iconic Seattle waterfront store.

Those who would like an invitation-only VIP experience earlier in the day, including presentations by Joe James and King County Archives’ Greg Lange, plus hors d’oeuvres and wine, please call 206-938-5293 or e-mail clay.eals@loghousemuseum.info.

For more information, along with a video invitation by Joe James, please visit http://www.loghousemuseum.info.