Around 1896, a vernacular, Victorian-style house was constructed at 368 38th Street for Hans Seffensen. Many decades later, the house became world famous, appearing in the film "The Goonies."

Photo Courtesy John Goodenberger

House Had Rich History - Before The Goonies

By JOHN E. GOODENBERGER, 2005

In 1985, the film The Goonies made a working-class house in Uppertown Astoria an international star.

The structure's early residents were known in the community, but not of "star" quality. They were everyday Astorians.

Looking up at the house from 38th Street, one might wonder why the hillside was never claimed by Astoria's elite. It seems perfect for a mansion. But instead, it was the site of several vernacular houses constructed specifically for the lower or middle-class. Perhaps the site's lack of accessibility played a role. Period maps indicate 38th Street was "impassable for wagons." Without a proper street, homeowners ascended the hill via moss-covered wooden steps - where carrying wood to heat the house or groceries to feed the family was an act of bravery and gymnastics.

Then there was the view. Surely one of our civic leaders would want it for their own. But what we may deem as picturesque, they did not. Canneries, net lofts and net racks spread almost as far as the eye could see. Sawmills, too, accented the scene. Col. John Adair's prized possession - the 1852 U.S. Customshouse - stood rotting, next to the Astoria Hemlock Tannery, poised to collapse in a faint above an inlet filled with toxic chemicals.

Standing on the site today, it is difficult to grasp the sensory experience of 1896, not to mention the vast natural resource-based industry which built Astoria. On the right day, a breeze would capture the best, or worst, of everything. Ash laden smoke, mixed with the sweet-sour smell of fresh fish being canned, wafted through open windows. Summer days were especially ripe, as low tide refuse spoiled on nearby beaches.

And there were bells, punctuating the refrain of whining saws slicing lumber at Clatsop Saw Mill. Most frequent were from streetcars, rumbling and rattling below the house on wood trestles, zig-zagging the shoreline. Weekdays, a bell swayed in the Queen Anne-style belfry of Adair School. Sundays, the Norwegian-Danish Methodist Church, First Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, Betania Norwegian Lutheran Church and Episcopal Chapel of Holy Innocents all beckoned their faithful with chiming. Then there was that on Fire Station No. 4., sounding the alarm for many conflagrations in our wooden city. Rounding out the chorus were train whistles, fog horns, ship blasts and bell buoys.

Uppertown was not for the finicky. The people who lived there were stout of heart and mind.

Hans E. Steffensen was the earliest known resident of the now famous "Goonie" house. Both he and the house appear on records at that location around 1896. Hans was a teamster for Astoria Box Co. who later became a carpenter for Ferguson & Houston, prodigious designers and contractors who constructed both civic and private structures. Hans lived in the house through 1904.

However by 1900, he shared the house with Thomas J. and Jane Davies. Both Thomas and Jane immigrated from Wales as young adults. Thomas was an engineer for Astoria Electric Co., then an electrical engineer for Samuel Schmidt & Co.'s cold storage plant. Thomas and Jane had four children. Their son James was a dispatcher for Pacific Power & Light for 44 years. Their daughter Hazel was hired as a teacher at Taylor School on Uniontown Hill in 1915. One year later, she married the school's principal, Howard R. Taylor. Thomas and Jane's daughter, Sarah, married Henry Arnold, a wood yard operator, in 1909.

Perhaps their daughter Blodwen was the most socially popular. She was selected by her high school graduating class to reign as the "Goddess of Liberty" during the July 4, 1906 celebrations. She too became a public school teacher. In 1922, she married a dashing James D. Moberg. Early the following year, she died in childbirth, leaving her infant daughter behind. In 1927, James became an ordained minister and served three local churches including the Svensen Community Church, Clatsop Plains Pioneer Presbyterian Church and Cannon Beach Community Presbyterian Church, which he founded in 1931.

Norwegian background

Thomas and Jane Davies lived in the family home through 1920. By 1925, the house was occupied by Thomas and Gertrude Thomas. Both Thomas and Gertrude were Norwegian born. Gertrude worked in a factory there until she immigrated to the United States to marry Thomas in 1901. Thomas was a driver for Troy Laundry then became a watchman for O'Brien -Gram Spruce Co. Gertrude managed their home. They had three children including Thorvald, an operator at Union Oil Co. service station, and Troyer, a truck driver. Their daughter Bertha was a clerk for O. B. Gunderson. She married Ernest "Ernie" Bumala in 1925.

Thomas died in his sleep on Halloween 1938, the evening following the broadcast of Orson Well's famous radio adaptation of H. G. Well's novel War of the Worlds. Astorians, by the way, remained true to their stoic roots and were unruffled by the realistic broadcast. The same could not be said for Portland. There, hundreds of calls swamped newspaper, radio and police switchboards. Frantic listeners demanded to know how to protect themselves from the impending Martian attack.

Residents of Concrete, Wash., were more alarmed. During the program's dramatic and fictitious conclusion, a New York correspondent is choked by poisonous gas. He portends it will be the last broadcast made from that city. At that very moment, electrical power failed in Concrete. Pandemonium followed. Phone lines clogged. Residents shouted from house to house. Others made preparations to flee into the pine forest. One man grabbed his child and did just that. H.G. Wells himself was not amused. He claimed he never intended his story to be portrayed in a realistic manner.

In the meantime, Astorians carried on. Gertrude Thompson continued to live in the house until her death in 1969. She lived there with her daughter Bertha and son-in-law Ernest.

Ernest was born in Finland, then emigrated with his parents to Deep River, Wash. His family later moved to Astoria where he received most of his schooling. He landed his first job with the Hammond Lumber Co. Then in 1938, he managed for Safeway Stores. Later, Ernest managed the Finnish Market and Grocery before driving truck for City Lumber and Supply Co.

In December 1950, two months after his 25th wedding anniversary, Ernest organized a dinner for his wife and others. He, as president of the Hen-Pecked Husbands of America, Astoria branch, coordinated a celebration of the club's 15th anniversary. Husbands prepared a turkey dinner and an evening of dancing for their wives. In addition, club member Rosebud Marriott was recognized as being "the most outstanding hen-pecked husband of the year." Rosebud was awarded a kewpie doll.

Bertha died in 1966, Ernest continued to live in the house until his death in 1971. The house remained vacant until 1975 when it was purchased by millwright Victor Hubbard and his wife Cathelene.

Twenty years later, the house was used as location shooting for the Steven Speilberg-produced film The Goonies. The cult movie brings scores of visitors to Astoria each year. Next weekend, the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting an anniversary party for its many fans. There will be tours, interaction with members of the cast and crew, and of course several opportunities to view the film with a documentary at the Columbia Theater. It sounds too good to miss.