93 North Fremont Ave.

Paul and Shari McGill will once again welcome Live Worship Shop Tour visitors to their 14-room house—a home that has been in the McGill family for more than 60 years. First on the tour in 2015, the McGills wanted to have their beautiful home featured again to help commemorate Bellevue’s 150th anniversary.

The brick Foursquare home was part of the Bellevue Land Company’s “Sunnyside Plan of Lots,” laid out about 1892. Prominent builder Benjamin Avery Groah, who also built the Jackson and Grant Elementary Schools in Bellevue, built this home in 1904 for his own residence. Benjamin Groah also built three adjacent houses on North Fremont Avenue, including this one, each progressively smaller and less ornate than the last. This lovely house became home to the McGill family in 1948.

Current owners, Paul and Shari are the son and daughter- in-law of the McGills. They purchased the home in 1993 and have painstakingly renovated the home and added

updates without losing the charm of the home. Now empty nesters, the McGills have converted one of the many bedrooms to a TV room and renovated a downstairs bath to luxurious spa status.

The floors and much of the woodwork, including mantels and a staircase, are solid oak. Stained glass windows and transoms throughout the home create sparkle and elegance. In touring the house, note the eclectic artwork. Much of it was created by Shari’s father, and each piece has found a special place in the home.

The home exhibits a simple Foursquare form with many fine ornamental details and beautiful period furnishings Among its outstanding features are the two side bays, exquisite leaded glass windows, a bracketed cornice, and gabled dormers with decorative pilasters and shingled walls. The paint scheme perfectly complements and highlights the house’s architectural details.

The McGills believe that there must have been a fire in the 1920s, resulting in the removal of walls and replacement of ceilings. The fireplace in the living room is different from others in the house, possibly another result of the fire. They converted the former kitchen into a breakfast room and added a new kitchen at the back of the house in 1970, replacing an older breakfast room and porch. Their renovations are lovingly done without compromising the home’s original historic details.