Sigma Nu Members Work to Restore Historic Home

For more than a century, the Victorian-era “castle” on Cheney’s College Avenue has stood as a local landmark. Since 1994, it’s been the home of Eastern’s Sigma Nu fraternity, a group that is determined to make improvements that will both restore the home’s original luster and help preserve it for years to come.

So far members of the fraternity’s Theta Lambda chapter, working with professional contractors, have replaced trim and baseboards, repaired the exterior fence and completed painting and drywall work. They’ve also tackled smaller renovation projects throughout the house and grounds, including repainting the basketball court and the chapter room.

Now, with the help of a $1,000 Heritage Grant from Spokane Preservation Advocates and a $60,000 loan, the fraternity is preparing for larger repairs, including rebuilding the decks and addressing other aging parts of the property.

For Cole Kays, the fraternity’s housing manager, the work has become about more than fixing up a historic building. “You get a close connection of guys with you, and we put in a lot of hard work, and it makes you kind of care for something,” Kays says.

The house, built in 1897, is a new addition to the Central Cheney Historic District. Along with repairing aging structures, members have worked diligently to bring back some of the historic details that attracted the attention of historic district officials. This summer, for example, they added period-appropriate trim inside to better match the house’s original design.

Kays said the project gained momentum after a storm brought down a tree that damaged the property’s fence in the spring of 2026. As members started to address the damage, they discovered other parts of the property that needed attention.

Perhaps not surprisingly for a home that during its 129-year history has seen many not-so-subtle internal and external alterations, some of the repairs have uncovered unexpected challenges. While rebuilding a retaining wall made from old railroad ties, for example, members discovered a sidewalk buried underground that had to be addressed as part of the work.

As the larger construction work moves forward, the fraternity is partnering with alumnus Patrick Vedder who owns Big Dog Custom Carpentry, a construction company based in Spokane. Kays said the deck projects are expected to take about a month, followed by room renovations and bathroom updates. The renovations are expected to be completed by spring of 2027.

Kays hopes the renovations will also give people a different perspective on the fraternity’s wider role in the community. Along with maintaining the house, he said, members participate in local service projects and support one another outside the fraternity.

*Story written by Cara Peterson.