A Tacoma Tale: From Airplanes to Architecture

The envelope arrived today.  Inside was a photo I found on eBay a few weeks ago featuring a vintage airplane with “City of Tacoma” painted on the cowl.  I grew up in a house full of model airplanes, have always had a penchant for vintage photos, and now live in Tacoma (and like it).  There wasn’t any question in my mind.  I had to have it.  In the end it was relatively inexpensive, and it showed up today.  This is where the story starts to wander a bit. 

Written on the back of the photo are some stats about the plane.

Lockheed 2 “Explorer” NR-B56-H
Tacoma to Tokyo – Japan attempt 1929
Captain Harold A. Bromley by wing

Curious.  I opened my web browser to the Tacoma Public Library Photographic Archive and typed “Lockheed” into the search form.  Seventeen images popped up – all featuring our Capt. Bromley and his Lockheed monoplane.  From the library’s website:

On July 28, 1929 Harold Bromley’s Lockheed Vega monoplane, the “City of Tacoma,” failed to take off on his first attempt to fly solo across the Pacific from Tacoma to Tokyo. The huge orange low wing craft was designed specifically for this 4,762 mile flight, with a 48 foot wing span, a 425 horse power engine and tanks that held 900 gallons of fuel. Bromley, a dashing twenty-nine year old Canadian native, was a former Royal Air Force Lieutenant, a barnstorming stunt man, a World War I hero and a “Tacoma Boy,” who now taught aviation at the Tacoma air field. On take off, everything went wrong. The over-filled gas tanks drenched gasoline onto the windshield; as Bromley leaned to the side for a better look, gasoline spewed onto his goggles and into his eyes. The plane veered off the runway and crashed. Bromley escaped from the gasoline soaked vessel unharmed… (Link w/ Photo)

My photo was apparently taken just prior to this ill-fated flight. 

Then I notice another photo showing Bromley and a well dressed man.  According to the image description, the man is most likely the airplane’s benefactor, a Mr. John Buffelen.  Now I’m curious.  Who is this Buffelen businessman that is funding airplane trips across the Pacific?

I switched over to the library’s building index  and type “Buffelen” into the Notes Keyword field.  Ten matches for the name.  I see listings for Buffelen Furniture, Buffelen Lumber and Manufacturing, and a model home built of plywood provided by Buffelen Lumber.  A quick Google search gave us a short biography of John Buffelen.  He was born in Holland and had apprenticed with A.G. Eiffel.  He came to the United States in the late 1800s and his business became quite successful selling doors and plywood.  It would appear that Mr. Buffelen made his money in wood like a fair number of Tacoma’s early residents. 

The building index search results then revealed the last three houses owned by Mr. Buffelen.  In 1916 he bought the corner house at 223 North J Street – so close to where we live now.  In 1919 he moved to a beautiful Victorian at 424 North Yakima – again just down the street from us.  This home is quite stately, although it has now been divided into three apartments.  It’s also where at least three readers of this site have lived or live now.

The last house owned by John Buffelen was “Villa Montana,” also known as the Wm. Sheard Mansion, at 509 North Yakima – a spectacular mission style mansion built in 1905 and bought by Buffelen in 1923.  Its previous resident was a John Philip Weyerhaeuser and supposedly this was one of the most elegant homes in Tacoma.  But then Buffelen died in 1941, the house fell into disrepair, and was demolished in 1959 to make way for the Vista Palms.  The palm trees from the original house remain.  Look at the photos on the library’s website.  This house was a treasure. 

So anyway, I picked up an old photo on eBay today and found myself on an architectural tour of Tacoma.  I thought the airplane looked cool.