The Reard/Freed House is located on 212th Ave. SE, just north of SE 20th St. in the city of Sammamish. The house is listed on the King County Historic Resource Inventory. It is a physical record of the past and is important to the Sammamish community's cultural life and identity.

The house is a two-story decorated pioneer farmhouse built in the 1890s. The house was built on a post and beam foundation. The high pitched gable roof has been covered with composition shingles. The gable ends are decorated with octagonal wood shingles, and the balance of the exterior walls are covered with horizontal siding. Most of the windows are plainly trimmed double-hung sash.

A two-story wing, also with a high pitched gable roof, projects from the east side of the building. The original covered front porch is missing. A door with upper glass panel is located at the south end where the porch once extended. Another single door is at the north end, facing east. A large, elegant, first-story bay window is featured on the south side of the building. It has a wood shingle roof. A long, single-story wing projects from the west side of the house. An enclosed porch is on the south side of the wing. The porch contains a single door with multi-paned fixed windows. Brick chimneys are centrally located on the ridges of both sections of the house.

Jacob D. Reard purchased the property on which the house is located around 1890. The 80 acres was purchased from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company for the sum of $380. The Northern Pacific Railroad Company was granted land by the U.S. government in order to construct railroad and telegraph lines from Lake Superior to Puget Sound.

Not much is known about Emma G. and Jacob D. Reard. They took a mortgage out on the property in June 1892 for $900 and paid it off in full in June 1895.

The property went through several owners before O.L. Skogman purchased the property in 1915. Mr. Skogman worked at the Monohon mill for many years. When finances were difficult, Mrs. Skogman worked at the Clise Manor as a cleaning lady. During the time the Skogmans lived on the property, the house was a gathering place for the community. Dances were held in the large room on the second floor of the house.

Oscar Freed acquired the property around 1930. The Freeds raised chickens and Hereford cattle. Oscar was responsible for the creation of Water District 82, the first water district in the Sammamish area, and became the first water commissioner.

The movie Act of Love (1980) was filmed at the Reard/Freed House. It starred Ron Howard, Robert Foxworth, and Mickey Rourke. The film was directed by Jud Taylor. It was a sentimental drama about mercy killing of a paralyzed family member. During the filming of the movie, children from the surrounding area would come to have their pictures taken with the stars of the movie.

This home has not been significantly altered and is possibly one of the only remaining examples of a decorated pioneer style farmhouse in the Sammamish area.

Freed House Photos

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