The Thornewood Carriage House in Lakewood, Wash. is a exhibit of craftsmanship and design, with a level of opulence that nearly defies description. Owner Jonn Mason is ready to pass his prized home onto a new owner. It can be yours for $3.25 million. By Tony Overman The Thornewood Carriage House in Lakewood, Wash. is a exhibit of craftsmanship and design, with a level of opulence that nearly defies description. Owner Jonn Mason is ready to pass his prized home onto a new owner. It can be yours for $3.25 million. By Tony Overman Jonn Mason isn’t like other people. You can tell the moment you meet him.
Flashing a crooked grin and a mysterious, quizzical glint in his eye, Mason has a way of locking into conversations you probably weren’t prepared for. The subjects vary — from fine art to his futile attempt, decades ago, to convince his neighbors to construct a beach house he designed in the gated, waterfront community they share — but each topic is tackled with singular focus and attention. No distractions.
You realize all of this even before he invites you inside — at which point Mason’s quirks and idiosyncrasies begin to fall into place.
Since 1978, Mason, 74, has been the proud owner of Thornewood Carriage House, a century-old English Tudor affair in the shadow of Thornewood Castle on American Lake . When he purchased the roughly 7,000-square-foot, four-bedroom Lakewood home more than four decades ago for $200,000, it had been converted into a duplex, complete with popcorn ceilings. Its days as a working part of the Thornewood Castle estate — a 100-acre assemblage that was home to Chester Thorne, a prominent banker and one of the founders of the Port of Tacoma — were ancient history.
Today, Mason’s home is, quite literally, filled with ancient history. It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places . Restoring Thornewood Carriage House has consumed much of Mason’s life, at least as much as his career in financial management , which is how he made the money to pay for it all.
Step inside and the fruits of Mason’s labor are on full display, from the moment you set eyes on the spectacularly redone black-walnut entryway to the time you inevitably spend marveling at the gold impregnated sinks and the living room fireplace, which he salvaged from an 18th-century Italian castle.
Frankly, it’s all breathtakingly ornate, to the point of feeling fantastical. It’s hard to imagine anyone living there — let alone using the marble toilet — but that’s just what Mason has done, all alone, since his divorce in 1997.
The catch?
For a year now, Mason, who is looking to downsize in old age and move to the desert, has been trying to sell Thornewood Carriage House.
Click here to view original web page at www.thenewstribune.com
