For the Moore family, blood runs deep. So does history – the stories of where people came from, how they lived, where they settled and raised families and built new communities. For four decades, they have been a part of the unfolding history of Sammamish. And beyond that, as proud Finns they feel a strong connection to the place some know as “Finn Hill,” that section of the Plateau where immigrants from Finland came to work the soil and eek out a living as best they could, in harder times.

Under ominous skies on Tuesday evening, three generations of the Moore family gathered on Finn Hill, united by a battle over the area’s history that they see is about more than the city’s past – about what Sammamish would become as much as what it would lose should the Freed House be reduced to a pile of rubble or ash.

The fate of the Freed House is well known – a historic building, one of the last remnants of the Plateau’s farming heritage, faces destruction after the Sammamish City Council voted last year not to fund its relocation and restoration.

But, if the Moore family has anything to do with it, this will not be the final chapter in what is becoming a story that could in many ways define the character of the city. Inspired by the decade long effort of the SHS to draw attention to the stories and places of our past, the family saw a challenge that someone in the community needed take on.

Ella Moore and her daughters Mary and Denise are at the core of “Save Freed House,” a subcommittee of The Sammamish Heritage Society (SHS). Ella said that, although she grew up knowing Freed House and the families that lived there, she didn’t realize that this unique piece of city history was under threat until she read in The Reporter that the council was considering pulling it down. Ella’s third daughter, Janelle, used to clean for the Freeds. “We always had the impression that they were a very devoted couple.”

Mary remembers the house when it was still part of a working farm.

“There is barely any history left up here,” she said. We are standing on the side of 212th Avenue, where the house has been sitting on blocks for many years. “What else is there?”

It is this sense that the threads connecting Sammamish to its past are breaking one by one that moved the Moore family to take on the responsibility of finding a way for the house to be relocated and restored.

“We are Finns – and that means we are stubborn and don’t quit,” Mary said. “There is a word in Finnish, “sisu”, which means determination, strength. It sums up Finnish people and our family. Team Sisu.”

Looking at the work the Moores have put into Save Freed House, one cannot doubt their commitment. Over the past few months, the three women have compiled thorough quotes and estimates of what it would cost to, first, protect the house from the elements, and, later, move and restore it. They say that the council’s estimate of about $1 million was not accurate, and by crunching the numbers had found it could be done for much less.

“The city was under some pressure to come up with a number right away, which is difficult to do,” Mary said. “But we have gotten a number of quotes, and looked closely into what it would cost, and it is less than they are estimating.”

But a key part of their plan is to avoid having the city, and city taxpayers, pay for it at all.

“All the federal and state agencies we have spoken to are very familiar with Freed House, and are really keen to see it preserved,” Denise said. “There is grant money out there for projects like this. Groups like 4Culture and Washington Trust are all eager to preserve the house.”

Mary said she was very conscious of the financial pressure the city was under.

“That’s why we are exploring ways to do this without uses taxpayer’s dollars,” she said.

First, though, the group needs the assistance of the city to apply for the house to be listed as a historic landmark by King County. It is a process that would not cost the city any money, just some administrative time, and the designation would greatly assist the group in securing grant funding for the project.

It is with this in mind that the Save Freed House subcommittee will present a comprehensive study paper on the house and the options for its restoration at a Sammamish City Council study session on May 11. The Moore’s are hoping that anyone with an interest in seeing the heritage of the Plateau preserved will attend the study session, or contact their councilors, to let them know that history is important to the residents of Sammamish.

“In the end, it will be a city resource,” Mary said. “After we have done all the work to get it preserved, it will be a facility for the city to use and earn revenue from.”

While Mary understands the pragmatic approach to the problem, Ella and her daughters all understand that there is more at stake that revenue.

“For many people, this is the last connection to a childhood on the Plateau,” Ella said.

To contact the Save Freed House subcommittee, e-mail Mooresporch@aol.com.

For more information on the Sammamish Heritage Society, visit www.iinet.com/~shs.

The City of Sammamish study session on the future of the Freed House will be held at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 11, at Sammamish City Hall.