Family to auction of some county treasures
<p>Susan Falck daughter of the late Frederricka Florea Lederhos is tasked with auctioning items from her mother's estate. She is seated near a sign at the historical building.</p>
A piece of Bonners Ferry history the Hawkins’ House is reopening its doors for a two-day auction event.
The Hawkins House Fredericka Florea Lederhos estate auction will be hosted by Jo Jo Baker with a preview at 4 p.m. and auction starting at 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 7, and from 8 a.m. for preview with auction starting at 9 a.m., Saturday Oct. 8.
Built in 1910 by Will Hawkins and his daughter Mary, the tamarack log building overlooks the Kootenai River Valley.
The Hawkinses moved to the area from Kentucky and soon became well-known in the Bonners Ferry area for their southern hospitality.
Will Hawkins was a banker and Mary was a teacher and later became superintendent of Boundary County School District.
The Hawkins opened up their home for many social gatherings and the locals used to have many dinners and discussions in the home.
Fredericka Florea-Lederhos dreamed of being the host of a place people could gather socially. She moved to Bonners Ferry in 1965 with her five children after she became widowed.
It wasn’t long before she met and married Fay Florea, who adopted her children and helped her realize her dream.
In 1977 the couple bought the Hawkins House.
Lou and Jean Mace, the previous owners, were considering turning the home into a museum before the Floreas bought it. They were thought to have purchased the home in the early 1960s.
Fredericka Florea-Lederhos and her family remodeled and transformed the home into a beautiful fine dining restaurant.
Calling the restaurant Hawkins’ House, it quickly became the place to go in Bonners Ferry. The house would be a historical marker, but because of it being renovated it couldn’t officially be named a historical landmark.
It is however, full of historical memorabilia and memories.
Florea-Lederhos designed a delicious menu and included history of the house on the back. She was very taken with the history behind the property and made sure people knew how it came to be. Florea-Lederhos’s Hawkins’ House was particularly famous for its unique scones.
Susan Falck is Florea-Lederhos’s daughter and executor of her estate. Fredericka Florea Lederhos died last summer unexpectedly.
Falck said her mother was an extraordinary woman. She was what could be known as the first social worker in Boundary County. As a nurse, she not only helped people she had the community in mind with everything she did.
“I helped her get the restaurant off the ground,” said Falck. “My brothers helped and so did dad, it was very much a family run business.”
The grounds even support a huge black walnut tree brought all the way from Kentucky where the Hawkins used to live.
“Just keeping up with the grounds here alone, used to be a full time job,” Falck said.
Florea-Lederhos became active in a tourism group in North Idaho and would give tours and feed about 40 people a day on there way to expo in Canada, according to Falck.
Falck helped her parents as a manager of the restaurant and helped with hiring a crew to be on board for the restaurant. So Hawkins’ House is very much a part of Falck in so many ways.
After 10 years of serving people from all over the world, Florea-Lederhos converted the restaurant into an art gallery. When Fay Florea’s health began to fail they moved into the Hawkins’ House. After 30 years of marriage and many memories Fay Florea passed away in 1996.
Seven years later Florea-Lederhos married Donald Lederhos. They had few years together, but so many wonderful memories in the Hawkins’ House with family gatherings, said Falck. After four years of marriage, Don Lederhos passed away.
Falck said if she could, she would keep the Hawkins House, but it is part of the estate and has to be sold to settle it.
“There is so much history here,” Falck said as she looked t the old pictures on the wall. “I was going through the old pictures and memorabilia and it just brought back so many memories of good times,” Falck said.
Falck is holding an auction of the collectives and furniture in the home. She said her mother would be so happy she was giving the community a gala event such as the one they are putting on for the auction.
The auction will be catered by Under the Sun. There will be hors d'oeuvres, beer and wine. Saturday there will also be refreshments available.
There are authentic Native American hand crafted rugs and baskets that will be up for auctionm, along with fine art by local artists and antiques.
Paintings by Katherine Haynes, Mike Haynes, Marilyn Bowles, Daisy Huggins and Janine Grenade Utter will be auctioned.
“These are treasures my mother collected,” Falck said. “The Hayneses used to barter paintings for dinners and had a long standing paid dinner ticket with Hawkins’ House.”
A large antique buffalo head mount overlooks the great room. Native American jewelry, Katchina dolls, and authentic beaded headdresses.
Fredericka Florea Lederhos loaned Boundary County museum a picture of Miss Mary and Will Hawkins and Falck is going to try to display this at Hawkins’ House during the auction.
“My mother loved to collect Native American art and there is a huge display here at Hawkins House,” said Falck.
The house itself is for sale as well. home is 2,686 square feet and is seated on 1.28 acres.
“It is a very unique piece of property and it is just killing me to have to sell it,” Falck said. “I really just want to honor my mothers memory and her legacy of always doing things for the community. She would be so pleased knowing we were opening up the Hawkins House back to the public to see and to have the opportunity to buy some of the things she collected over the years.”