Mike Chmielewski and his wife Lee Henrikson live in a historic area of Palmer, but their well-kept two-story home doesn't really show its more than 70-year-old bones. It has hardwood floors, an on-demand boiler system, and paintings by local artists in modern styles hanging from the stairway walls.
"When people come in," Chmielewski says, "they are invariably surprised" by the size of the home on the inside, which he estimates around 1200 square feet but look smaller from the outside, where the house sits on a lot and a half.
Even with the airiness of the home and the modern updates, there's one thing decidedly more surprising about the home, and that's the four baby chickens currently residing under a heat lamp, in a tub in one of the house's bathrooms. But they'll be moving outdoors soon, into the chicken coop waiting in the yard.
If you have an interesting Alaska home you'd like to see featured as a 49th Estate, contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com.