Driving down Highway 101, just west of Blyn and the 7 Cedars Hotel & Casino, you can see the top of the roof and chimneys of a lovely old brick house. Especially before all the trees start leafing. It looks neglected at best, and I wondered, whose house? Can I find it? A little bit of sleuthing and the answer is tied to a Sequim pioneer, builder and lover of birds.
Dawley House from Highway 101
Cecil Lynn Dawley (1915-2005) was born in Sequim, six months after his parents settled here, where they ran a shoe and saddle repair and later, a grocery store. After serving in World War II, Cecil Dawley turned to the construction industry. His widow, Helen, remarked that “all of the brick buildings in Sequim, he built.”
He inherited the house in Blyn from his parents and lived there from 1957 until his death.
Cecil Dawley deeded the house and land in the 1970s, after the death of his first wife, but was given lifetime use of the property. The house along with 130 acres was transferred to the US Fish & Wildlife Service for use as a wildlife refuge in 2006, after his death. It’s now managed in conjunction with the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.
The chimneys, the windows, the archway over the front door, and the cross above it, are lovely examples of the brickwork of this masterpiece of a house.
Being part of the DNWR, the property isn’t open to the public, in part due to the instability of the roads around it, and partly because the USF&WS is returning to its core mission of wildlife preservation. A chain link fence surrounds the property.
Looking down from the Olympic Discovery Trail, this garden shed sits just off to the side of the Dawley House.
As one of the Sequim Bay shoreline and salmon habitat restoration projects, (which includes the Pitship Pocket Estuary) the North Olympic Salmon Coalition in conjunction with US Fish & Wildlife, removed the beach house, dock and bulkhead.
Beach house and bulkhead before restoration, 2015. Photo from the North Atlantic Salmon Coalition.
Shoreline after restoration, 2016. Photo from the North Atlantic Salmon Coalition.
Memorial plaque, photo (c) 2007, mtngrlkd on Flickr.
Links of Interest:
- Sequim Bay Shoreline Restoration, USFWS Dawley, North Olympic Salmon Coalition
- Cecil L. Dawley obituary
- Dawley Land Donated to State For Wildlife Refuge, originally from the Sequim Gazette
Location:
Off the Discovery Trail, just east of the end of Dawley Road.
Thanks for being a wonderful sleuth! I’ve always wondered about that brick house I see every time I drive to town. I ought to know more about the place I call home, and I appreciate all the research you share with us on your blog!
Love that shed! More great pictures.
Helen And Cecil Dawley were my grandparents. I spent many wonderful days in that house and on that property. Thank you for this nice story about a very special place. Helen and Cecil were even more special than the house!
Helen Dawley was my grandmother. We spent many thanksgivings in that house growing up! They kept several swans and peacocks on that property as well. It was a truly incredible place to go and visit grandma!
I imagine we have loads of old photos lying around somewhere.
Hi Erik – how fun that you stumbled across my little blog and the post about the Dawley House! I find old photos fascinating, and if you’re ever so inclined, I would love to see and maybe scan a few of those photos. The brickwork on the house is extraordinary!