The two-story, side gabled home at Fourth and Anthes in Langley owned today by Ben Breedlove is one of Langley’s oldest houses. Constructed in 1908 by Albert Melsen, its first occupants were Fred and Susan Beachum. Fred came to Whidbey from Michigan. He and Susan homesteaded and, by 1900, were farming on what is now Newman Road. Early records mention their fruit orchards and poultry business.

Sometime around 1910, the Beachum family — now including adopted daughter Effie CoJean — moved to Langley and took up residence at Fourth and Anthes. Fred worked as a road supervisor for Island County before being elected county commissioner in 1910, where he served for four years, the last two as commission chairman. Following his tenure as a commissioner, Fred served for a short time as Langley town marshall in 1920. Effie married Henry Simonson in 1912, and later ran a dry cleaning business on First Street. In 1919, the Beachums sold their home, relocating to Everett.

Captain Bartlett Lovejoy and his wife Avanell owned the home in the 1920s and 30s. Bart was born in Coupeville in 1889 and married Avanell in 1912. Their daughter, Gretchen, was born the following year. The Lovejoys were prominent boat builders and ship captains. Bart’s father, Howard, founded the Island Transportation Company in 1911 which included the sternwheeler Fairhaven and the steamers Atlanta, Clatawa, Camano and Calista. In fact, Bart was at the helm of the Calista on July 27, 1922, when she was rammed by a Japanese freighter and sank. All aboard were saved, thanks in part to his decisive action.

In 1943, Langley realtor and insurance broker Dick Luhn purchased the house. Dick and his wife Elva had come to Whidbey from Nebraska in 1932 to be closer to her parents, the Albert Melsens. Dick enclosed the front and back porches, repositioned the front door from Fourth Street to Anthes and added a barn. His son, Abe Luhn, remembers leading a “blessed young life” at their little farm in the city, where they kept cows, chickens, and where he and his sisters picked hundreds of  pounds of cherries each summer before they were allowed to go play on the beach.

Ben Breedlove purchased the home in 1964. His father brought the family to the area from Missouri during World War II. Ben and his sister attended Langley schools and helped gather wood and run the mangle for their mother’s laundry service. He served in the Army during the 1950s and 60s, and was in Germany in 1964 when Dick Luhn called him about buying the house at Fourth and Anthes. They worked out a trade for a vacant lot Ben owned on Windmill Heights as down payment.

Ben continued working in Europe and Saudi Arabia for the next 40 years, though he lived in the house for five years from 1984, and has enjoyed being there since his retirement as a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines in 2004.

A 104-year-old tulip tree planted when the house was first built still graces the property today.

Look for the next article in this series on Wednesday, May 16.