‘Old Houses Matter’: Vader Woman Thinks the Town’s Past Could Be Key to the Community’s Future

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Rose Hill House, or Rose, as Judi Costello affectionately calls her, remembers Vader before it was officially a city, when it was still called Little Falls (or maybe even Kraft) and when the downtown had a wooden sidewalk and even an opera house.

A sign welcoming people to Vader declares that it was established in 1891, although it officially became a city in 1906. Rose Hill House was built in 1895. Rose Hill House is one of only five homes built in the 1890s still standing in Vader. Costello, who purchased it about a year ago, said the next oldest homes in Vader were built around 1907 and later, which is why restoring her beloved Rose holds such a place in Costello’s heart. 

And she’s hoping to create a movement around Vader’s historic places through an initiative Costello started earlier this year called Vader Old Houses Matter. In January, Costello sold T-shirts, books and baked goods to help raise money for a needed fix to Rose Hill House. She said she was excited to learn so many Vader residents care as much as she does about the small town’s history.

“It was just a lot of support from community members who are thrilled with what I’m doing and want to support it,” Costello said.

Costello has been an investor for 40 years and owns four properties in Vader, including the building where she houses her thrift store and the Little Falls Community Center. She and her husband also own Apple Electric and have lived in a home connected to that business since moving to the community 13 years ago. 

Rose Hill House went on the market three or four years ago, and Costello officially purchased it in January 2020, becoming just the third person to own the home in its 126-year history. Costello said she had always been drawn to the three-story home, and it became something of a running joke with her and her friends that no one else should buy it because “that’s Judi’s house,” she recalled with a laugh. In 2015, Costello wrote and published the book “Rose Hill: The Adventures of Madison in Little Falls.” She said she set out to simply write a love story about a man and a historic house, but midway through the writing process realized that she was writing about the house that had so captivated her for so many years, so she dedicated the book to Rose even before they had met.

“I have a connection to the house,” she said. “I don’t know what it is exactly, but I love every inch of this house.”

Rose Hill House had fallen into disrepair in the years before Costello purchased it, and she said she wanted to make it shine again. She said she was thrilled to find on the inside that other than someone entering the house at one point when it was vacant and removing all of the glass doorknobs, the home’s original charms were largely intact. With her own sweat, and the help of YouTube, Costello has spent the last year bringing the dilapidated home back to its former splendor. 



One disappointment Costello said she experienced in the renovation was that she did not find any kind of “treasures” in the walls or floors that are so common to come across in historic homes. Costello said she remedied this by adding her own items under some of the finishes so that future generations will have something to find.

“The next person will be greatly surprised by what I left behind,” she said.

Costello is in the process of applying to have Rose Hill House added to the historical registry for the state of Washington. It is a similar list to the National Historical Registry, to which Vader’s Ben Olsen House and Evangelical Church of Vader belong, but without certain restrictions and requirements for property owners. She said she has hopes that her Vader Old Houses Matter campaign could eventually grow to encompass all of the historic homes in the city, to encourage the community to keep these gems alive. One of her long-term wishes is that someday the owners of Vader’s historic properties might be willing to participate in some sort of historic tour or map that could create buzz around their small town.

And Costello isn’t alone in her assertion that Vader’s past is likely a key to brightening its future. The city’s development regulations require new buildings on A Street between Sixth and Seventh, considered the historic business district, to include wooden facades consistent with the earliest look of downtown Vader, as outlined in the city’s community action plan. Vader’s newest Comprehensive Plan, approved in May 2020, lists the Vader’s Victorian homes as one of the resources likely to attract visitors and new residents alike: 

“Once a thriving center of commerce and culture, then a ghost town, Vader is now in the midst of a community-wide renaissance. An active Main Street, renovated Victorian homes, and tree-lined sidewalks and roadways combine to create a comfortable turn-of-the-century feel. While growth in recent years has been negligible, the current population of 643 represents a major rebound from the 1960s and ‘70s, when the population dipped to below 400. Since the 1970s, the population has steadily climbed and has now surpassed the city’s 1910 population of 631.”

And it seems to be working, Costello noted. She said there are 12 new homes being built in Vader at this moment, likely drawn there by the relatively inexpensive property. As COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease across the region, Costello said she is hopeful that these new Vader residents will get the chance to see the historic charm of their new residence and come to embrace it like she has.

“Thirteen years later, I still love it,” Costello said of Vader. “We have our ups and downs, our ins and outs, our likes and our dislikes but at the end of the day, we all live here.”