$10M Waterfront Home For Sale Owned By Former Fashion Model And Previously Creator Of Sunny Jim Peanut Butter

A 6,860 waterfront Tudor Revival mansion, located at 3627 42nd Avenue NE, is on the market for $10,800,000.

The six bedroom, 4.25 bathroom home has been owned by the Sloans for the last 45 years. Mrs. Sloan was a fashion model for Frederick and Nelson, I Magnin and Gretchens.  And her husband, the late Dr. Sloan, was an anesthesiologist.

They purchased the home from Dr. and Mrs. Rogge, whose father was Germanus Wilhelm Firnstahl, a German immigrant who moved from Wisconsin in 1921 and bought a peanut roaster, then founded Pacific Standard Foods, maker of the Sunny Jim peanut butter brand.  He built the house in the same year.  

Kim Dales said about the property:

This western facing parcel has two lots with 130' of waterfront and has one of the longest docks (190') in the neighborhood along with the original boat house. The home is located on just under an acre of land and is framed by beautiful old evergreen trees.  The grand living room has been the site of many Christmas parties and festivities for the families who have lived in the home.  The current residents added the atrium just off the living room.   

The family said that one of Mr. Firnstahl's favorite past times was building and refurbishing boats in the basement. When completed, the boys and grandsons would take them down to the water's edge to test them.  

Mr. Firnstahl's son, Lowell, was featured for many years on the cover of the peanut butter as he was his only child who had all of his front teeth.  

During the Depression, Mr. Firnstahl bought a plant on Airport Way South and in the 1950's the company became the supplier of a third of all peanut butter in the Seattle area,  before it was sold in 1979 for $3 million to the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.   

A large sign on the factory building made the "Sunny Jim building" on Airport Way South a familiar landmark to motorists passing on nearby Interstate 5.  The main advertisement for Sunny Jim was "Sunny Jim has underground peanuts with a flavor that's outta sight". In 1997, there was a fire at the plant which destroyed the sign and a portion of the building. On September 20, 2010 a massive fire finished off the Sunny Jim plant as well as a vacant building on the factory site, according to Wikipedia.

(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

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