The Anders Residence, located at 3000 Kootenai Street, is a great example of the Prairie style of architecture in Boise’s bench neighborhood. Built in the Roberts Subdivision, the house is part of the bench historic tour. The Roberts Subdivision was plotted out in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The house draws from various architectural styles both inside and out. The house is currently owned by Sandi Anders, who remembers driving by the house as a kid, and had been interested in the house before buying it. Ms. Anders has improved and renovated the house since buying it 8 years ago, but has restored much of the interior of the house.
The outside of the house draws from architectural styles including a mission style archway that leads to one of the three front-facing doors. The window casings are all the original iron casings, which combined with the flat roof on one side of the house give the house a very Art-Deco feel to it. The sandstone brick that covers the entire house as well as the stained glass windows that the current owner has added draws heavily from the Craftsman style of house. The house also can be said to draw from the Prairie style of architecture. The one gabled roof is lowly pitched, and the house has broad horizontal lines to it. The brick’s light coloring and the general lack of curves on the exterior are influences of the prairie style house. The chimney of the house is also very plain, and rectangular, which combined with the house’s porch and terrace are evidences of influence by the prairie style of architecture. This house draws from many of the architectural styles that were popular, or up and coming during the time period of its building.
Once one enters the house, all of the interesting and character building aspects of the house are out shined by the tremendous interior of the house. The house contains many things that were common of houses built during the 1940s and ’50s including cabinets that are built into the wall, and vents that allow for the cool air in the basement to vent up into the upper areas of the house, effectively cooling off the upper areas of the home.
The house contains pointed arch walkways that allow people to walk between rooms, but only leading from the living room into the dining room, and from the dining room into the main hallway. All of the other arches in the house are plain rectangular arches, the only interior doors lead to the three bedrooms and two baths. All other rooms can be reached through an open archway. The pointed arches lack molding; this is an influence of the International style. The tiling in the kitchen and bathrooms are characteristic of the Spanish Mission style.
The wood paneling and moldings are characteristic of the Craftsman style as well. The interior of the house is generally asymmetrical in its layout, as the rooms all vary widely in shape and size. Just as the exterior, the interior of the house has great style, and draws from a wide range of architectural styles.