Overstreet Office Building

In 1894, the expansion of State Street began with the construction of what is now known as the Overstreet office building. The building was a house originally occupied by Revered Weaver. After many years the home became a rental property. In the Idaho Statesman historical archives, there are many instances where the home was advertised for rent beginning as early as 1901. Sometimes it was listed as a 6 room house and sometimes as a 5 room house suggesting that individual rooms were also rented out. The Overstreets remodeled the building in 1977 converting it into rentable office space. The office building is split into a top and bottom floor. The bottom floor belongs to the Overstreet Tax firm and the upstairs has four rooms that can be rented out as small business spaces.
The Overstreet office building is a beautiful blend of farmhouse and Victorian style architecture. The farmhouse architecture style is seen in the square sectional parts of the building. The steep roof line, the wraparound porch and the pillars at the front of the building demonstrate the Victorian style.
When the house was constructed, it was heated with a coal-burning furnace. The house was later converted to a gas furnace to accommodate modern needs. However, when the building was remodeled in 1977, it was again converted switching over to the geothermal heating that was available in Boise. The geothermal system was only available on the south side of State Street at the time. After a long and heated debate with the water district, the Overstreets were able to get the geothermal water lines routed up to their area of State Street. With geothermal available, many other houses were able to take advantage of this inexpensive heating alternative.
During the summer of 1977 remodel, the Overstreets made many drastic changes to the building. On the exterior, the building received a new roof and gutters. Also, both porches were rebuilt. There was a new exit added to the building for the upstairs offices. Finally the sidewalk was raised 20 inches in the front and 12 inches in the back of the building.
With the interior of the offices, all of the walls were changed from plaster to drywall because the plaster was becoming very worn. The stairs were originally a double stair case. They split into the living room and the kitchen. The stairs that accessed the kitchen were removed to increase space. The upstairs floor was becoming elevated in the middle due to the house settling. The center support beam was sanded down to compensate for the settling and to level the floor. This is evident when looking at the uneven doorways in the front of the building. As the remodel came to a conclusion, all of the walls and ceilings were resurfaced and then painted or wall papered. The wood work was all cleaned then stained and varnished.