A house patterned after a “cozy cottage in Norway” is the Olson home at
1301 3rd Ave. N.—the home of Mr. and Mrs. Evan Olson, their son Bjorn,
and daughter, Mrs. Doris Olson Wood, for many years.
The Olsons were women’s apparel designers and tailors and their expert
work was widely known. Olson and Mrs. Wood also were artists and their
paintings gained for them a wide reputation.
The Olson house which has rooms on first and second floors, dates back
to 1897 when it was built on a lot across the street from its present
location. The original site was at the east end of Johnson Place. When
this block-long street was cut through from Twelfth to Thirteenth
Streets in 1911 in order to provide building lots in a previously
inaccessible area, the Olson house was moved to the southeast corner of
Third Avenue North and Thirteenth Street—its present location.
The house remained in possession of Mrs. Wood for many years after the
death of her parents and she continued her tailoring and art work there.
After her death the property was sold in 1969 to Mrs. Helen L. Moreland
who presently resides there.
Olson turned out many fine oil paintings during spare time from his
tailoring work. Mrs. Wood’s art work was mostly in water colors. Both
spent many hours in wooded areas around the city sketching and then
completing the paintings at home. Mrs. Wood also made a trip to Norway
where she did extensive sketching and painting. As a result many of her
water colors were scenes from Norway. She also turned out paintings of
farms and rural area scenes.
[Illustration: The Olson home
1301 3rd Avenue North]
Mrs. Wood painted and decorated the kitchen of her home in the style of
Norwegian kitchens. It became so widely known that a picture of the
kitchen and a story about her work appeared in Better Homes and Gardens
magazine. The interior of the home has been remodeled by Mrs. Moreland
and the downstairs now includes a living room, two bedrooms and a
kitchen. The second floor has one bedroom and a bath. Walls have been
painted, new floors laid and jalousie doors installed. Exterior of the
house is painted red and growing on the outside walls are five different
varieties of ivy plants.