-
Name (common, present, or historic): Melrose Building Year
Built: 1915 Street and Number: 301-309 E. Pine Street Assessor's
File No. 872560-0240 Legal Description: See attached Plat Name:
Twelfth Avenue Addition Replat Block: 3 Lot: 1 Present Owner:
M&P Partnership Present Use: Cafe, offices Address: 10510 NE
Northup Way, Kirkland, WA 98033 Original Owner: Mr. Pelham H.
Blossom or George Gund II Original Use: Commercial, retail
Architect: John Creutzer Builder: Unknown
-
Melrose Building Seattle Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013
This report was prepared by:
David Peterson Nicholson Kovalchick Architects 310 First Avenue
S., Suite 4S Seattle WA 98104 206-933-1150 www.nkarch.com
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 2
Melrose Building Seattle Landmark Nomination INDEX Page I.
Introduction 3
II. Building information 4
III. Architectural description 5
A. Adjacent neighborhood context B. Site C. Building exterior
and structure D. Building interior E. Summary of primary
alterations
IV. Historical context 8
A. Early development of the neighborhood and the Pine Street
regrade B. Building owners C. Building occupants D. The development
of the Pike-Pine Auto Row on Capitol Hill E. The architect, John
Creutzer
V. Bibliography and sources 20
VI. Preparer and Reviewer information 22 VII. Report
illustrations 23-44 Tax assessor records, site plan, selected
architectural images Following This report was prepared by:
David Peterson Nicholson Kovalchick Architects 310 First Avenue
S., Suite 4S Seattle WA 98104 206-933-1150 www.nkarch.com
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 3
I. INTRODUCTION This report was written at the request of the
owners of the property, M&P Partnership, as part of the Seattle
land-use permit and SEPA process to ascertain the historical nature
of the subject building. Sources used in this report include:
Records of permits from the Seattle Department of Planning and
Development microfilm library Assessor's photographs and property
card from the Puget Sound Regional Archives in Bellevue,
Washington. Newspaper, book, city directories, and maps referencing
the property (see bibliography). Author's on-site photographs and
building inspection, or by other NKA employees. Information on
owners and residents was derived from the sources above; a title
search was not conducted
on the property. Historic photographs of the subject property
provided an important source of information on changes to the
exterior to the building: Unless noted otherwise, all images are
by NK Architects and date from autumn and winter 2012.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 4
II. BUILDING INFORMATION Name (traditional/current): Melrose
Building Year Built: 1915 Street & Number: 301-309 E. Pine
Street (corner of Melrose Avenue) Assessors File No.: 872560-0240
Original Owner: Mr. Pelham H. Blossom Present Owner: M&P
Partnership Contact: Tom Lee
10510 NE Northup Way Kirkland, WA 98033 425-889-9500
Present Use: Cafe, offices Original Use: Commercial, retail
Original Architect/Builder: John Creutzer, architect
Plat/Block/Lot: Twelfth Avenue Addition Replat less street / Block
3 / Lot 1 Legal Description: Overall parcel legal description: Lots
1, 2, 3, 12, 13, and 14, Block 3, Replat of Twelfth Avenue Addition
to the City of
Seattle, according to the plat thereof, recorded in Volume 8 of
Plats, page 54, in King County, Washington; Except the north 7.75
feet of Lots 1 and 14 condemned in King County Superior Court Cause
No. 57057 for street purposes as provided by Ordinance 14500 of the
City of Seattle.
Legal description for portion containing this building only: Lot
1, Block 3, Replat of Twelfth Avenue Addition to the City of
Seattle, according to
the plat thereof, recorded in Volume 8 of Plats, page 54, in
King County, Washington; Except the north 7.75 feet of Lot 1
condemned in King County Superior Court Cause No. 57057 for street
purposes as provided by Ordinance 14500 of the City of Seattle.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 5
III. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION A. Adjacent Neighborhood Context
The site is located at the west end of the Capitol Hill
neighborhood, in the Pike-Pine corridor, near where the two streets
cross over Interstate 5 towards downtown. [Fig 1-Fig 2] The
immediate neighborhood is primarily a dense mix of commercial,
mixed-use, institutional and civic buildings, with few
single-family houses nearby. While the neighborhood has been
continuously developed every decade from the 1890s to the present,
the area was heavily developed in the decades between 1900-1930,
and the immediate area derives considerable character from
automobile-related service buildings and showrooms built between
about 1910 and 1925. [Fig 3-Fig 8] Since that period, the most
significant alteration to the immediate neighborhood was the
construction of the Interstate 5 highway two blocks west of the
subject block, in the early 1960s. The work demolished several
continuous blocks of residential and commercial buildings in the
immediate area, and created a stark western boundary to the subject
buildings neighborhood, albeit with spectacular downtown views just
downhill from the subject site. Today, the Pike-Pine Corridor just
north of the site is notable throughout the city for a vibrant
urban living, working, and entertainment environment, particularly
in recent decades. Seattle historic landmarks within about a six
block radius include:
First Covenant Church (John Creutzer, 1906), originally the
Swedish Tabernacle, at E. Pike Street and Bellevue Avenue [Fig
39]
The Wintonia Hotel (1909), at E. Pike Street and Minor Avenue
[Fig 32] The Summit School / Northwest School (James Stephen, 1905
with additions 1914 and 1928), at Summit,
Crawford, and Union [Fig 27] The Stimson-Green mansion (Kirtland
Cutter, 1898-1900), at Minor and Seneca The Dearborn House (Henry
Dozier, 1904-05), at Minor and Seneca Paramount Theater and
Building (B. Marcus Priteca, Frederick J. Peters, and Rapp &
Rapp, 1927-28), at 9th
Avenue and Pine Street Camlin Hotel (Carl Linde, 1926), at 9th
Avenue and Pine Street Eagles Temple Building/ACT Theater (Henry
Bittman, 1924-25), at 7th Avenue and Union Street Baroness
Apartment Hotel (Schack & Young, 1930-31), at Spring Street and
Terry Avenue Ward House (1882), at E. Denny Way and Belmont Avenue
E. Broadway Performance Hall (Edgar Blair, 1911), at Broadway and
E. Pine Street Seattle First Baptist Church, at Harvard and
Seneca
Some notable nearby buildings that are not landmarks include the
following:
The former Butterworth Mortuary (Charles Haynes, 1922) across
Pine Street from the subject building [Fig 7] The Area 51 building,
originally the Carr Brothers Auto Repair building (1910), across
Bellevue Avenue from
the subject building [Fig 36] The McDermott (Gerald Field,
1926), an ornate brick and terracotta midblock seven-story
apartment building,
across Bellevue Avenue from the subject building Utrecht Art
Supplies, originally a Packard Automobile dealership (1920), a
block away at Pike, Minor, and
Melrose [Fig 36] Partly in response to the Pike-Pine corridors
early history as Seattle's original auto row, the City of Seattle
Department of Planning and Development (which administers the Land
Use Code and the Seattle Building Code) established the Pike/Pine
Conservation Overlay District in 2012. The boundaries of the
District extend on either side of Pike and Pine Streets, from about
Interstate 5 to 15th Avenue, including the triangle between
Madison, Broadway, and Union Streets. The purpose, among other
things, is to identify character structures located within the
district boundaries and to offer height and floor size bonuses if a
character structure is retained, rather than demolished, in the
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 6
redevelopment of a site.1 [Fig 36-Fig 37] The subject building
is a listed character structure in the Pike/Pine Conservation
Overlay District, but not within the conservation core which
constitutes the highest concentration of targeted buildings. The
Overlay District is unrelated to, and completely separate from, the
Seattle Landmarks Preservation program administered by the
Department of Neighborhoods Historic Preservation Office. B. Site
The site is located in a NC3P-65 (Neighborhood Commercial 3
Pedestrian 65) zone, which extends along much of the core around
Pike and Pine Streets. The property is also located in the
Pike/Pine Urban Center Village, and the Pike Pine Conservation
Overlay District (see section under Context explaining this
district). The property is located on a rectangular parcel
measuring approximately 105 feet east-west x 42.25 feet
north-south, at the southwest corner of E. Pine Street and Melrose
Avenue. There is no alley. The site slopes gently downward from the
southeast corner to the northwest corner. A narrow, 7.75 foot wide
strip along the north part of the original parcel facing Pine
Street was acquired by the City of Seattle in 1905 by City
Ordinance 14500 in order to accommodate widening of the Pine Street
right of way. Parcels south, southeast, and east of the site are
held by the owner of the subject parcel. [Fig 1-Fig 2] South of the
site is a former one-story light industrial automotive service
building constructed in 1917, which most recently housed a retail
store. Southeast of the site is a surface parking lot, serving
approximately 25 parking stalls, accessed off of Bellevue Avenue.
To the east is a building known as the Timken Roller Bearing
Building, a flat-roofed three-story structure built in 1916. It
contains apartments, commercial and retail spaces including Mud Bay
Granary, and is the subject of a concurrent Seattle Landmark
nomination report. To the north, across E. Pine Street, is the
former Butterworth Mortuary, an ornate Beaux-Arts building
constructed in 1922. Today it contains professional offices and a
restaurant. To the east there had been a c.1960s apartment building
which suffered a fire and was demolished. Today, a mixed-use
building is currently under construction on the site. To the west,
across Melrose Avenue, is a triangular block of stores and
restaurants located in three c.1910s one- to two-story light
industrial buildings, including Ristorante Machiavelli, Sitka and
Spruce, The Baltic Room, Melrose Market, and others. To the
northwest, kitty-corner from the site, is a three-story c.1967
reinforced concrete office building, housing professional offices.
A 1975 historic resources inventory of the Capitol Hill
neighborhood by Victor Steinbrueck and Folke Nyberg (part of their
citywide inventory project) describes three categories of historic
building significance: significant to the city, significant to the
community, or of no significance. Their inventory called out the
subject building as being of significance to the community.2
1 The full purpose and intent, per Seattle Municipal Code
23.73.002, is to implement Resolution 28657, calling for
development of the Pike/Pine Overlay District in order to preserve
and enhance the balance of residential and commercial uses, by
encouraging residential development and discouraging large,
single-purpose commercial development. In addition, a purpose of
this chapter is to promote the conservation of Pike/Pine's existing
historic character by limiting new development to a scale that is
compatible with the established development pattern, accommodating
arts facilities and small businesses at street level, and
encouraging the retention of the existing structures and their
architectural features that establish the District's architectural
character; generally, those structures that have been in existence
for 75 years or more ("character structures") and are related to
the area's early history as Seattle's original auto row. 2 Nyberg
and Steinbrueck, 1975, unpaginated.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 7
C. Building Exterior and Structure The Melrose Building, located
on a corner, is a one-story brick-clad light industrial building
constructed in 1915, originally designed for five commercial
tenants. The building is a multi-bay, straightforward design, with
minor orna-mentation and ample glazing, typical of modest early
20th century neighborhood commercial storefronts. [Exterior images
Fig 9-Fig 15] The building fills the lot. The structure is concrete
frame with post and beam interior supports. Exterior is
unreinforced brick masonry, with storefronts that are wood and
metal sash, with wood bulkheads. Storefront windows are reinforced
with metal posts visible on the interior of the masonry walls.
Floors are cement on a concrete foundation. There is no basement.
The roof is flat, with a stepped parapet topped with metal coping.
The north or primary elevation faces Pine Street, and is divided
into six equal bays. From the sidewalk, the building presents a
large area of glazed storefronts stepping down Pine Street, an
effect enhanced by a level of transoms composed of grids of thin
vertically-oriented lights, which deepen with the dropping sidewalk
grade. The storefronts and transoms all appear to have original
wood sash, although entrances appear to have been altered over time
to suit tenants. Due to the slope of the sidewalk grade rising
above the interior floor level, the easternmost (uphill) bay was
not designed to have a commercial entry, but rather is part of the
store space one bay west. Brick piers enframe the outermost four
windows on the north elevation (with the exception of the
westernmost corner of the building, which lacks a pier), leaving
the center two window bays undivided by a brick pier, emphasizing
the center of the building. The piers support above a deep brick
facade modestly embellished with in-plane brick panels centered
with a diamond-shaped tile. Today, the masonry is painted and these
brickwork elements are not as visible. The brick piers feature a
simple corbelled top with a decorative masonry element at the
center top. In the center of the building on the primary elevation,
above the center two windows, is a brick in-plane panel with the
words Melrose Building flanked by two ornamental wreath medallions.
On the west, or Melrose Street elevation, the storefront windows
wrap the corner and set on a masonry bulkhead, continuing the
general pattern set on the main elevation. However, there is no
brick pier at the storefronts where the corner turns; the
storefront is reinforced with a metal corner post hidden from view.
Additionally, the west elevation windows are undivided by brick
piers, and therefore create one large west-facing glazed area. A
side door is at the southernmost portion of the west elevation,
providing a back door to the store occupying the corner location.
The south and east elevations are party wall conditions, and not
visible. D. Building Interior According to 1937 tax assessor
records, the ceiling height is 17 feet 6 inches. Floors are cement,
and interiors were originally plastered. Originally, the commercial
spaces were nearly identical in plan, with very few built-out
amenities shown on the plans, other than restrooms. Party walls
separate the spaces. [Interior images Fig 16-Fig 26] Currently, the
building is occupied by Bauhaus Books and Coffee at the corner,
which takes up the two westernmost bay spaces. The three
easternmost bays are occupied by professional offices, accessed
through one entry. The sixth bay, just west of center, is occupied
by a clothing store. The interior of all of the spaces have been
renovated over time to suit the tenant. In the professional offices
at the three easternmost bays, and at Bauhaus Books, some of the
original brick walls are exposed. In the professional offices, deep
structural joists, supported on engaged masonry piers, may be
enclosed behind gypsum wall board. At Bauhaus Books, a freestanding
structure has been built inside the cafe space, to provide
mezzanine seating and kitchen support spaces. Also at Bauhaus,
full-height bookshelves have been installed, hiding the interior
partition wall.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 8
E. Summary of Primary Alterations Based on available historic
photographs and physical investigation of the building, the
building appears to have had little alteration to the exterior
since construction. Some commercial storefront entries appear to
have been altered over time to suit tenants, but relatively little,
and apparently only below the transom level. The exterior brick has
been painted in recent years, obscuring the decorative brickwork
patterns in the upper portions of the north and west elevations.
Primary changes to the building have been interior alterations to
meet the needs of a variety of commercial tenants. These currently
include the construction of partition walls and platforms in the
wide-open warehouse-like spaces, in order to create and enclose
bathrooms, offices, kitchens, and so forth, depending on the space.
Significant permitted alterations (other than mechanical permits,
or signage permits) on file at the building department are as
follows:
Building Permit Date Cost Work 328249 1938 --- --- 435148 1955
$500 Move office partition to rear of building and install p.b. on
ceiling 450224 1956 $450 Construct addn. to ex. bldg. (16x16)
526250 1968 $800? Repair bldg; replace window sills 527054 1968
$3,000 Alter portion of 1st floor of existing building 672190 1993
$10,000 Tenant improvements to retail (bookstore/espresso) [Bauhaus
Books] 746213 2004 $3,000 Interior tenant improvements for space
#303, change use from office to
retail and occupy per plans. IV. HISTORICAL CONTEXT A. Early
development of the neighborhood and the Pine Street regrade In the
late 1800s, the still-undeveloped subject site was perched at the
western edge of a long continuous ridge stretching north-south from
Eastlake to First Hill. In the 1880s, the only building of
significance in the immediate area had been the modest Grace
Hospital, constructed 1885-87 by the Episcopalians of Trinity
Church, as the citys second hospital. The facility was located two
blocks southeast of the subject site at Crawford Place, Union
Street, and Summit Avenue. The hospital did not survive a local and
national economic downturn in 1893, was used for a few years by a
group of doctors, and by 1899 was abandoned. It operated as a
boarding house and hotel, but finally in 1905 it was demolished and
replaced with the Summit School, which was the largest
institutional building near the subject site. [Fig 27] At the turn
of the 20th century, the growth of the early city of Seattle had
centered around todays downtown. Expansion was hemmed in by steep
hills, such as the ridge where the subject site was located,
consisting of glacial till shaped during the last ice age. A 1899
topographic map of Seattle shows the areas west of the subject
site, at the base of this hill, more developed; the areas east of
the site, at the top of the plateau, were less developed. [Fig 28]
Pike Street as far east as 8th and 9th Avenues was more developed
than Pine Street, because it was served by a streetcar for that
length. At about 9th Avenue, the streetcar lines then angled
northward along the gentle grades of Stewart and Howell Streets, to
serve the Cascade neighborhood to the north, and entirely avoided
the steep slopes up Pike or Pine Streets. To accommodate commercial
and residential development in the explosively growing city at the
turn of the century, the city undertook extensive programs to
regrade streets, which involved flattening slopes and filling
gullies. The City of Seattle had already undertaken other regrades
in the downtown area (notably raising the grades around the
waterfront and tideflat areas, and lowering the grades around
Jackson and Madison Streets) at the turn of the 20th century. The
primary advocate for the regrades was Reginald H. Thomson, who was
the longtime City Engineer from the 1890s to 1911, and again
briefly in the 1930s. The main purposes were to encourage
development in parts of the city plagued by steep street grades (a
serious problem in an age of horse-drawn vehicles, although soon to
be a moot
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 9
point with the advent of combustion engines), and to improve
water and sewage systems in the city. In the process of regrading a
primary street, the perpendicular intersecting streets had to be
regraded as well, to keep slopes consistent across intersections.
At Pike Street in 1899, on the three blocks between what is todays
9th, Terry, Boren, and Minor Avenues, the elevation rose
approximately 120 feet, with an average grade of over 12%. Pine
Street was even steeper at an almost 19% grade, due to the same
elevation change over just two blocks, between todays Terry, Boren,
and Minor Avenues (ie, immediately west of the subject site). In
1903, the city regraded Pike Street from 7th Avenue to Boylston to
a steep but more manageable 7% grade, finally providing convenient
access to this part of the growing Capitol Hill neighborhood. In
1907, Pine Street and Olive Street were regraded, with Pine Street
reduced to a continuous 5.6% grade from 9th Avenue to Belmont. As
part of this work, Pine Street at the subject block was also
widened. According to press accounts at the time, Pine Street at
Melrose was to be leveled by 5.9 feet, and Pine at Bellevue by 5.7
feet. Fill depths for this regrading work reached over 25 feet, at
Pine and Terry.3 [Fig 29] Both regrades affected the grades of
Melrose Avenue, Bellevue Avenue, and other side streets. Two c.1906
houses midblock on Melrose Avenue, which were built prior to the
regrading work, remain on the subject block. They tower
approximately 18 feet above todays sidewalk, providing an
indication of the previous grades on that street.4 [Fig 3] In the
1905 Sanborn map, the surrounding blocks have begun to fill in with
modest c. 1900 single-family frame homes. The maps are detailed
enough to show corner turrets, bay windows, and projecting porches,
following the Queen Anne style, typical of the period. Some
outbuildings are shown in the rear yards. Probably because of the
grades, the subject block was not platted with an alley. A few
boarding houses are identified on the 1905 map as well, most frame
buildings. By 1905, the wood-frame Swedish Mission Church [Fig 31]
indicated on the map at the corner of Bellevue and Pike, a block
south of the subject site, would be replaced in 1910 by the
stone-built Swedish Tabernacle (todays First Covenant Church). [Fig
39] Other substantial masonry buildings constructed in the
immediate area during this time were the six-story Wintonia Hotel
in 1909 at Pike and Minor [Fig 32], and the three-story Hotel
Avondale in 1908 at Pike and Boren. Just a few years later, the
1912 Baist map shows extensive streetcar lines serving the
neighborhood, including along Pine directly in front of the
building, along Pike and Melrose at the subject block, and along
Summit and Bellevue north of Pine. During this decade, increasing
numbers of apartment buildings , mixed use buildings, and
automotive-related businesses began to line the main streets of
Pike and Pine, leading up to Broadway, the main north-south spine
of the growing neighborhood. [Fig 34] In 1915, the subject building
was constructed as a light industrial store building for multiple
commercial tenants, no doubt to take advantage of the growing
commercial area. The property had remained undeveloped until that
time. B. Building owners No chain of title was available for this
report. Tax roll ledgers from 1895 to 1941 at the Puget Sound
Regional Archives were reviewed for information regarding possible
owners of the property. The ledgers list the propertys fee owner
every five years, generally in years ending in a 5 or 0. A fee
owner is the person paying the taxes on the property, which is
usually the owner, although not necessarily so. The property was
platted in 1892. The first fee owner of the property listed in the
tax roll ledgers was Gustaf Falk and his wife, Hulda, in 1900.
According to Polks Directory that year, Falk was a carpenter who
lived a few blocks away at 204 Bellevue Avenue N. Hulda was still
living at that address at the time of her death in 1945, but she
and Gustaf had
3 Pine Street to be widened, The Seattle Times, October 7, 1906,
p.54. 4 Ketcherside, Robert. Undermining the Republican Senator
from Melrose, February 26, 2012, CHS Re:Take history column,
www.capitolhillseattle.com.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 10
divorced in 1934. No additional information could be found about
Gustaf.5 The Falks were also listed as the fee owner in 1905,
however, no buildings were built on the site during this period.
For 1910, the fee owner listed is Albert Speyers, and for 1915, the
fee owner is listed as A.W. Speyers - Realty & Leasehold
Company. No information could be found about Speyers, and there is
no listing for that person in the city directories during that
time. The Realty and Leasehold Company was a real estate investment
company active in Seattle from 1912 until 1977, when the
corporation was dissolved.6 Little information could be uncovered
about it from state corporation records or Seattle Times news
articles, but it appears to have been involved in downtown real
estate investments and composed of prominent Seattleites. In 1913
the president was D. C. Conover, and in 1944, the president was
Henry Broderickthe former a Seattle attorney and judge, and the
latter a major real estate investor.7 From 1920 onward, the tax
roll ledgers list George Gund as the fee owner of the subject
parcel. The current building was constructed in 1915 as a Store
Building for Mr. Pelham H. Blossom, according to the architectural
drawings on file at the Seattle Department of Planning and
Development microfilm library. Therefore either Gund or Blossom may
have been the owner, or the leaseholder, of the property. It seems
likely that these two men were Pelham Hooker Blossom and George
Gund II. Very little information was found for Blossom, but he and
Gund appear at least to have been acquaintances.8 Blossom was one
of the younger of five children of Henry S. and Leila Stocking
Blossom, of Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in 1886, and their family
appears to have moved in wealthy social circles there. His oldest
brother, Dudley S. Blossom, was a prominent judge, a member of the
Ohio legislature in the early 1920s, held appointed offices in
Cleveland, and active in financial, business, humanitarian, and
cultural institutions.9 George Gund II was born in LaCrosse,
Wisconsin, in 1888, the son of George Frederick Gund and Anna
Louise Metzger Gund. 10 The Gund family had owned and operated a
large brewery in LaCrosse, begun by Georges grandfather, John Gund.
The family moved to Seattle around 1891, residing first at 1307
Seneca Street, and later at 1203 Boylston Avenue, both on First
Hill. According to one unconfirmed source, George Frederick Gund
purchased an interest in Seattles Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company
in May 1891.11 In 1893, this brewery had consolidated with the
local Bay View Brewing Company and the Albert Braun Brewing
Company, incorporating as the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company,
and introducing in that year its Rainier brand of beer.12 According
to city directories, George Frederick Gund was president of the
Seattle Brewing and Malting Company for just 1897, but probably
late 1896 as well. This position at the brewery was apparently
short-lived, for later in 1897 the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio,
where George Frederick Gund purchased the Jacob Mall Brewing
Company, renaming it the Gund Brewery. Gund apparently sold his
interest in the brewery to Andrew Hemrich, who is listed in city
directories for many years thereafter as president of the Seattle
Brewing and Malting Company. Hemrich, with John Kopp, had owned the
Bay View Brewery since 1883, which was located at todays Airport
Way and Hanford
5 Gustaf should not be confused with E. Gustave Falk, who lived
in Seattle in the early 1900s, and was the pastor of the First
Swedish Church. 6 Dates of incorporation from Washington Secretary
of States office. 7 Plan structure at Broadway and Pike, Seattle
Times, February 23, 1913; and Finance--Banks of city hold
elections, Seattle Times, January 11, 1944. 8 Both appear as
members of seven-member election committee in 1920 in Cleveland,
with Blossoms brother Dudley, as mentioned in a Congressional
evidentiary hearing. United States Senate, Hearing before a
subcommittee of the Committee on Privileges and Elections,
Sixty-Sixth Congress, Second Session, pursuant to S. Res. 357,
Vol.II (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1921), p.1767. 9
Biography of Dudley S. Blossom, in William R. Coates, A History of
Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland. The American Historical
Society: Chicago and New York, 1924. Birth date from military
service records, accessed online. 10 Information on George Gund is
derived primarily from Biography of George Gund, The George Gund
Foundation, www.gundfdn.org. Additional unconfirmed information is
derived from George Gund, philanthropist, on wikipedia.org, which
mainly uses two references as its source material for Gunds family
and early life: German-American Business Biographies: High Finance
and Big Business by Charles R. Haller (Asheville, NC: Moneytree
Imprints, 2001), and Brewing in Cleveland, by Robert A. Musson
(Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005). He is also known as George Gund
Jr. 11 Biography of Edward F. Sweeney (1860-1926), derived from An
Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H. K.
Hines, DD, The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago IL, 1893, at the
website www.brewerygems.com. 12 Rainier Beer, Seattles Iconic
Brewery, HistoryLink.org essay #9130, by Peter Blecha, August 26,
2009.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 11
Street. According to Hemrichs biography, he had worked early in
his career at an unnamed brewery in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and
therefore may possibly have known the Gunds through that
connection.13 In later years, George Frederick Gund apparently
became wealthy investing in banking, mining, and real estate in
Cleveland, until his death in 1916. George Frederick Gunds son,
George Gund II, attended Harvard University, and graduated from the
first class of the Harvard Business School in 1909. At 21 years of
age, Gund moved back to Seattle in 1909, the city where he had
spent his childhood years from ages 3 to 9, from 1891 to 1897. In
Seattle, George Gund II began his career as a messenger for the
Seattle National Bank, and quickly became active in Seattle clubs
and society. After three years at the bank, he became Vice
President of his friend Henry Brodericks Seattle real estate
company, Henry Broderick Inc. Gund and Broderick would remain close
friends for the rest of their lives. Other members of the Gund
family maintained close connections to friends in Seattle as well,
including Georges sister Agnes.14 Gund appears to have immediately
used his business acumen to become an enthusiastic booster for real
estate development opportunities in Seattle, both commercial and
residential. Several times between 1912 and 1914 he travelled to
major cities in the Eastern US to assess possibilities in
Seattlefor example, on one trip, he extensively analyzed industrial
land real estate prices per square foot in Cleveland, Detroit, and
Montreal as compared to Seattle, in light of the business
opportunities with the opening of the Panama Canal a few years
hence.15 It seems possible that, during the trip to Cleveland in
1914, Gund may have recommended to Pelham H. Blossom that he invest
in Seattle real estate. Throughout the boom years of the 1890s to
the late 1920s, East Coast investments in Seattle business and real
estate were not uncommon, and often without the investors ever
visiting the city. Pelham Blossoms name could not be found in
Seattle directories around the period that the subject building was
designed and built, and so he was presumably not a resident of the
city, which might support the theory that he was a remote real
estate investor. When Gunds father died in 1916, he returned to
Cleveland to head the family realty business, and expanded his
familys wealth into a considerable fortune.16 In later years, Gund
served in Army intelligence during World War I, developed the
Kaffee-Hag Corporation in Cleveland, attended animal husbandry
school at Iowa State University, and pursued ranching in Nevada.
Although living in Ohio, Gund continued his close connections to
Seattle throughout his life. In 1931, Gund made considerable
headlines by purchasing (through Broderick) a large half-block
parcel at Seventh Avenue and Pine Street occupied by a public
market building. It was hailed as the first substantial infusion of
outside capital in the citys real estate since the economic
depression of 1929 (the site is now occupied by the Qwest Plaza
building). In 1941 Gund was described as having extensive holdings,
especially in the Pine Street business section, a frequent visitor
to the Pacific Northwest, and a long-time member of Seattles
Rainier Club.17 As previously mentioned, tax records indicate that
George Gund was the fee owner of the subject property in 1935. It
seems likely that his involvement in this propertyperhaps
purchasing it from Pelham Blossomwas another of Gunds ongoing
investments in the Seattle real estate market.
13 Andrew Hemrich, in Bagleys History of King County, Vol. IV,
pp.32. 14 Miss Agnes Gund dead, The Seattle Times, August 1, 1922,
p.12. 15 Broker holds an optimistic view, The Seattle Times, August
25, 1912, p.12; Comparison shows prices low here, February 2, 1912,
p.12; Speculation helps in building communities-Seattle realty
dealer says that line between speculator and investor is frequently
a narrow one, April 13, 1913, p.13; and Home city best that Gund
sees, January 25, 1914. 16 George Gund, former resident, obituary,
The Seattle Times, November 15, 1966, p.43. 17 Eastern mans buy
gives real estate impetus, The Seattle Times, November 22, 1931;
and Former Seattle man heads bank, July 13, 1941, p.23.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 12
In 1936, Gund married and settled down in Cleveland to raise a
family, and worked in banking. In 1941 he became president of The
Cleveland Trust Company, one of the largest banking institutions in
the country at the time, and in later years was chief executive
officer and chairman of the board of the bank. In 1937, Gund began
a formal program of charitable giving. By 1952 he founded the
George Gund Foundation. Major recipients of Gunds or the Gund
Foundations philanthropy have included the Cleveland Institute of
Art (where he was president), University School-Cleveland, Iowa
State University, Harvard University,18 Kenyon College, and many
others. Gund died in 1966 at age 71. The Foundation has now made
grants totaling more than $562 million since its founding.19 In
1975 and 1976, the Gund Foundation and the Henry Broderick estate
donated to Seattle University a 6,100 square foot property at the
corner of Olive Way, Fifth Avenue, and Westlake, which George and
Henry had jointly purchased in 1913 as an investment. The site, now
occupied by the 20+ story Westlake Center Building, was valued at
$500,000 at the time of its donation, and the funds were used by
S.U. to establish the Gund-Broderick Endowment to foster
human-services educational programs at the school.20 Tax records
indicate that the subject property was purchased in 1945 by John
Lucurell, for $14,500, and the property remained in the family
until recently (in 1971, the fee owner was Robert L. Lucurell).
Lucurell was born in Italy in 1899 and came to the United States
when he was five years old. He grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and
received an accounting degree from Denison University. In 1931 he
arrived in Seattle as a traveling auditor for a canned-food
company, then met and married Lucile Delaloye in 1934. Lucurell
purchased three macaroni-making businesses, merging them in 1939
into the Mission Macaroni Company.21 After selling the macaroni
company, he owned Staedecker and Company, a womens millinery
business, and later, a restaurant at Olive Way and Melrose Avenue.
In 1959, he founded Select Credit Card, the first travel and
entertainment credit-card business in the Northwest. Lucurell also
served as a president of the Seattle Accountants Association, and
was active in the UW Tyee Club, the Young Mens Business Club, the
Washington Athletic Club, Rainier Golf and Country Club, and the
Nile Temple. He died in 1989, at age 90. King County tax records
indicate that in 1999, then-owners Robert J. and Lynn D. Lucurell
transferred the subject property to the Dodre Family Limited
Partnership, which then transferred the property in 2006 to the
M&P Partnership, the current owner. M&P Partnership also
owns several parcels adjacent to the subject building. C. Building
occupants The subject building was constructed in 1915 as a
one-story commercial building for multiple tenants. The commercial
spaces were addressed as odd-numbered 301-309 E. Pine Street. Polks
Seattle Directory introduced reverse listings starting in 1938,
allowing a reader to find the name of the occupant for a given
address, in addition to the normal listings which are the other way
around. Prior to 1938, reverse listings are only available for one
year, 1928. A review of names of tenants every decade or so from
1928 to 1990 did not reveal any names of apparent significance. For
years prior to 1938 (with the exception of the single year 1928),
the method used to identify tenants for this report was through an
online search of period Seattle Times advertisements. An early
tenant, indicated through a c.1917 photograph and print
advertisement, was the Excelsior Motorcycle and Bicycle Company.
They occupied the westernmost commercial storefront, on the corner,
from about 1917 until 1925
18 Among other Harvard programs that have received gifts from
the Gund Foundation, the architecture department and Graduate
School of Design is housed in George Gund Hall. Graham Gund, one of
Georges sons, is a well-known Boston architect. 19 History of the
Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, www.gundfdn.org, accessed
December 5, 2012. 20 S.U. given key Westlake property, The Seattle
Times, November 16, 1976, p.1; and S.U. gift dates to 1913 purchase
by friends, November 17, 1976, p.A-6. 21 John Lucurell... obituary,
The Seattle Times, January 25, 1989; and Engagement announced, The
Seattle Times, December 28, 1933, p.11.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 13
(according to city directories). A 1925 advertisement indicates
that they sold and serviced new and used Excelsiors,
Harley-Davidsons, and Indian brand motorcycles.22 There have been
several long-term tenants in the building, including some
businesses related to automobile service, primarily Keystone
Welding. Advertisements for the Keystone Welding and Brazing
Company at this address appear in the Seattle Times as early as
1919.23 Advertisement copy states that they were automobile
welders, specializing in cylinders and hollow work, and that they
provided a service car for deliveries. Advertisements over many
years state that welding was also taught at that location,
including night classes. The 1937 tax assessor photo shows another
auto-related tenant of the building, E. R. Thornton Auto Parts. One
long-term tenant, Broadway Cycle Company, begins to appear at this
location in Seattle Times advertisements in 1946. Ad copy states
that they offered lawn mower service and precision grinding but
offer no information about bicycles or motorcycles, as one might
expect. They also list a sister company, Ballard Cycle, at 6319
24th Avenue NW. A company called Broadway Cycle was located as
early as 1911 at 1714 Broadway, and then at 1828 Broadway in the
1930s, and may be related. From the late 1960s to the present, some
of the commercial spaces have used by the building owners, the
Lucurells. The furniture store Mobilia was established in the
subject building in 1968 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Lucurell, as a
hobby enterprise importing designer European furniture.24 In recent
decades, one of the primary occupants has been Robert J. Lucurell
& Co. Inc., an insurance adjusting firm. Polks Directory, and
the 1928 Seattle list known occupants of the five street level
storefronts for the following years were as follows; some occupied
more than one commercial space: 1928 Keystone Welding & Brazing
Company (since 1919 at this address) 1938 Vacant Keystone Welding
Company 1943 Everett G. Hoffman, auto dealer Keystone Welding
Company 1951 Broadway Cycle sales and service (since 1946 at this
address) Keystone Welding Company 1957 Broadway Cycle sales and
service Vacant 1961 Broadway Cycle sales and service
Vacant Uptown Radiators Service auto repair
1971 Mobilia furniture and clothes Calvin-Gorasht Architects
Mobilia parking garage 1981 In The Beginning Quilts
Calvin-Gorasht Architects Robert J. Lucurell & Co. Inc.,
insurance adjusting
Northwest Arthritis Foundation fundraising charity
22 Excelsior cycle house growing, The Seattle Times, January 20,
1918, p.7; and How about that July trip? classified advertisement,
The Seattle Times, June 28, 1925, p.12. 23 Broken Parts,
advertisement, The Seattle Times, October 12, 1919, p.7. 24 Fun
place to shop..., The Seattle Times, July 25, 1968, p.24.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 14
Melrose & Pine Building Co. apartment rental Restaurant
Management Corp. Robell Company, investors
1990 Classic American Construction Anne Fisher Associates,
interior designer
Robert J. Lucurell & Co. Inc., insurance adjusting Northwest
for Arthritis Foundation fundraising charity Melrose & Pine
Building Co. apartment rental Adjusters International public
insurance adjusting Melrose Coach used car sales Mobilia interior
decorators Seattle Tea & Coffee food distributors Drew Lucurell
Delaloye, lawyer
D. The development of the Pike-Pine Auto Row on Capitol Hill
Some of the early commercial occupants of the subject building were
automobile-related service companies, and therefore the building
might be considered to have a relationship with the Pike-Pine Auto
Row which developed in the early part of the 20th century. Capitol
Hill is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. Seattles
founders had settled on Elliott Bay only in 1852, and incorporated
in 1869. While First Hill developed first as the fashionable
neighborhood for the growing elite in the expanding city, Capitol
Hill followed close behind, being developed by about 1880-1900.
Both neighborhoods were convenient to downtown, enjoyed water views
and fresh air, and were some of the earliest areas served by
streetcar lines. A map showing 1896 street railways shows two lines
serving First Hill via Yesler Way and James Street, while several
lines were serving Capitol Hill via Pike, Union, Howell, Stewart,
and other streets. Neighborhood development generally followed
streetcar lines.25 On the interior of the hills and on lower
slopes, such as around the subject property, more modest
middle-class homes and small apartment buildings were built, with
scattered commercial buildings, creating a relatively dense,
pedestrian-scaled neighborhood. Pike Street was the first street as
one departed north from the downtown area that was improved to
reach Capitol Hill. In 1901, the streetcar line in the downtown
portion of Pike Street was extended all the way up to Broadway.26
Pine followed shortly after. Both were regraded in the early 1900s
to provide a gentler slope from downtown to Broadway, by the turn
of the century. Nearly flat Broadwaythe main north-south spine of
the developing neighborhoodwas also an early paved street, and had
one of the few north-south streetcar lines that did not go through
downtown, but rather connected Capitol Hill and First Hill. Where
streetcar lines went, automobiles soon followed. The first sold in
1905, but to a city still used to streetcars, horse transportation,
or walking, the new automobiles were essentially toys for the
wealthy. Because Pike and Pine were the easiest connection to
Broadway, and Broadway connected the wealthy First Hill and Capitol
Hill enclaves, the Pike-Pine-Broadway area began to develop into an
early Auto Row, characterized by numerous dealerships, auto repair
shops, parts suppliers, paint shops, parking garages, used car
dealers, and the like.27 Dealerships would have been the most
prominent buildings in the Auto Row area, usually located at the
most visible locations and in ornate, architect-designed buildings.
The building type housing these dealerships were generally
fire-resistive construction of concrete or brick, two to four
stories tall, with large showroom or garage spaces on the first
floor, and parking on upper floors accessed by ramps or large
elevators. At the beginning of the 20th century in Seattle,
automobiles were purchased from local distributors after selecting
a model from an auto show, a showroom, or from literature. The
vehicle would be delivered months later. Unlike today, there were a
wide range of manufacturers
25 Horse-drawn streetcars had been introduced in Seattle in
1884, cable cars in 1887, and electric streetcars in 1889. By 1892,
Seattle had 48 miles of streetcar lines and 22 miles of cable car
lines. 26 Williams, p.42. 27 Today also referred to as the
Pike-Pine Corridor.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 15
competing for market sharenot only Ford and Chrysler, but
now-departed brands like Federal, Menominee, Chalmers, Saxon,
Bauch-Lang Electric, Seldon, Mitchell, Hubmobile, Pierce-Arrow,
Case, Reo, Willys-Overbrand, Peerless, Packard, Studebaker, and
others.28 Seattles population in this period was growing
exponentially, and automobile purchases grew with it, due to
increased familiarity with the new technology, and increasingly
moderate prices. From 1890 to 1900 the Seattle population had
nearly doubled over the decade, to 80,761. City boundaries expanded
through several 1907 annexations, such that by 1910 the population
had nearly tripled to 237,194, and to approximately 327,000 in
1920.29 The growth of vehicle ownership resulted in large numbers
of secondary businesses springing up to provide support and
services. Automobile-related listings in the Seattle Polks
Directory had grown substantially; for example, by 1915, there were
55 businesses listed under Automobile Manufacturers and Dealers,
but nearly twice as many102listed under Automobile Repairs and
Supplies. These services included various headings such as
Automobile Accessories, Automobile Fenders, Lamps, and Radiators,
Automobile Gasoline, and so forth. Some automobile listings appear
to be addressing a public still used to horses and carriagesfor
example, the 1915 directory has subheadings such as Automobile Tops
and Trimmings, Automobile Liveries (See Garages), and even
Automobile Hospitals. Unlike the automobile dealerships, auto
services were often likely to be located in more utilitarian
structures, and often on the side streets of the Auto Row area.
Garages and some service buildings were built of masonry or
concrete fire-resistive construction like the auto dealerships,
except less ornate. Between these masonry structures were also
found simple wood-frame shop or service buildings, usually only one
story. Beginning around the 1920s, other auto rows began to appear
over the decades in other parts of Seattle, and auto-related
service businesses began to be not necessarily associated with the
Pike-Pine-Broadway area. In the Depression years of the 1930s, many
auto businesses closed and some dealerships moved to selling used
cars. In the postwar years of the late 1940s, dealerships moved to
expansive outdoor lots and new buildings as they followed suburban
development. In the Pike-Pine area during the past several decades,
many former automotive-related concrete, masonry, and heavy-timber
structures were adapted to residential, retail, entertainment, and
institutional uses. Today, the Pike-Pine Corridor has several
former auto dealership buildings and automobile service buildings
that have been cited in city surveys as having a high degree of
integrity. Automobile-related buildings cited in the Sound Transit
environmental impact statement include the Seattle Automobile
Company (1000 E. Pike) and the Lieback Garage (1101 E. Pike), which
concluded that they may be eligible for National Register or city
landmark status. The Historic Property Survey Report for Seattles
Neighborhood Commercial Districts cites the following buildings as
notable:30
Utrecht Art Supplies, a former Packard dealership (1120 Pike)
AEI Music, a former Packard dealership (1600 Broadway) Former Tyson
Automobile Company (901 E. Pine) Former Graham Motor Cars (915 E.
Pike) Former Colyear Auto Sales, later occupied by REI (1021 E
Pine)
F. The architect, John Creutzer The architect of the subject
building was John Alfred Creutzer, according to the original
drawings on file at the Department of Planning and Development
microfilm library. Creutzer was active in Seattle during the boom
years of the 1910s and 1920s, and was a prolific and moderately
well-known architect in his time. He designed a large number of
apartment buildings, as well as churches, mixed-use buildings, and
theaters. Many of his known works are still standing, although some
have been altered. 28 Sheridan, p.27; BOLA, p.5. 29 Ochsner,
Shaping Seattle Architecture, pp. xviii-xxxii. 30 Sheridan,
p.27.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 16
Information on Creutzers background is limited. He was born in
1873 in Sweden, and came to the United States around 1892. He then
lived and worked for a time in Minneapolis, and while there married
Hilma Johnson, another Swede whose family had settled there. The
Creutzers then moved to Spokane, and then to Seattle, arriving
around 1906, and eventually settling in Wallingford. In Seattle,
Creutzer provided architectural work and construction supervision
for Alexander Pearson, a Swedish-American contractor, and for
architect Henderson Ryan.31 Ryan had many active projects during
the period of 1906 to about 1908; it is possible Creutzer could
have worked on any of them. They include the Swedish Baptist Church
at Pine Street and 9th Avenue (1904-5 or -6, destroyed), the
seven-story Waldorf Hotel at Pike Street and 7th Avenue (1906-7,
demolished 2000), the Roycroft Apartments at Harvard Avenue and
Thomas Street (1906-7), the Grandview Apartments on Eastlake Avenue
E. near Harrison Street (1907), and the Fredonia Apartments on 15th
Avenue E. and E. Mercer Street (1908).32 By 1908, Creutzer had
established his own office, but seems to have formed several
short-term or perhaps project-specific partnerships with builders
or architects in this early part of his career, based on news
articles at the time. Known projects during this period
include:
The Hawthorn Apartments at 16th Avenue and Harrison Street
(Kingsley, Eastman & Creutzer, 1909).33 [Fig 38]
An eight-room dwelling north of Lake Union costing $3,000
(Kingsley & Creutzer, 1910). 34 Swedish Tabernacle at Pike
Street and Melrose Avenue (Creutzer, 1910), today known as First
Covenant
Church, a designated Seattle landmark.35 [Fig 39] 203 W.
Comstock Street on Queen Anne Hill, a three-story apartment house
for J. L. Lang, costing $35,000
or $20,000 (Quandt & Creutzer, 1912).36 [Fig 38] The most
significant early project for Creutzer was the Swedish Tabernacle
(1910), later known as First Covenant Church, a block from the
subject site at Pike Street and Melrose Avenue. The church was
composed primarily of Swedish immigrants. Creutzer was a member of
the congregation, as was Alexander Pearson, and both were on the
building committee. This may have been the reason for his selection
as architect, although he does not appear to have designed anything
before that is comparable in scale, size, materials, or complexity.
The domed neoclassical structure, with monumental engaged columns
along its Pike Street elevation, replaced the wood frame Swedish
Mission Church on the site that had been the previous home of the
congregation. By the mid-1910s, now in his forties and more
established, he appears to have worked as the sole architect on the
majority of his projects. There is no resource which lists his
complete body of work. Below is a chronological list of projects
during this period found for this report, derived primarily from
newspaper accounts, and is therefore not exhaustive:
Grand Central Building at 25 N. Wenatchee Avenue, in Wenatchee
(1912, altered).37 [Fig 40]
The Broadway Theater (1913) at Pine Street and Broadway. The
building is described as 60x120 feet, seating 800, and costing
$25,000.38 This project may have been unbuilt.
A two-story masonry building at 1527 Broadway (1913). A possible
photo of the building is located at [Fig 41]. This may be referring
to the same building as the Broadway Theater, listed above. In any
event, the building is no longer extant.
31 Creutzer, John, Pacific Coast Architecture Database,
retrieved December 6, 2012. 32 Ochsner, p.350; and Larry E.
Johnson, Ballard Carnegie Free Public Library, Seattle Landmark
nomination report, November 2011, pp.12-13. 33 Apartments for
Sixteenth Avenue, The Seattle Times, February 7, 1909, p.6. 34 Note
under Manufacturers get valuable publicity, The Seattle Times,
September 11, 1910, p.15. 35 New Swedish Tabernacle..., The Seattle
Times, May 3, 1910, p.8. 36 Many apartments built this winter, The
Seattle Times, February 25, 1912, page number obscured; and
Building permits for week..., March 31, 1912, p.12. 37 Artifacts
Consulting, Downtown Wenatchee Historic District, National Register
of Historic Places Registration form, National Park Service, US
Department of the Interior, prepared July 23, 2008, p.18. 38 Nearly
$9,000,000 spent..., The Seattle Times, November 9, 1913, p.12.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 17
Shops at 610-618 E. Pike Street (1913, altered),39 occupied by
automobile-related service companies. [Fig 42]
The Colonial Theater at 1513 4th Avenue (1914; demolished).40
[Fig 40]
Carolina Court Apartments at Eastlake and Mercer Street (1915).
The project was built by Alexander
Pearson, Creutzers previous employer. The opening of this
Colonial Revival courtyard apartment building received an unusual
and perhaps undeserved amount of coverage by the Seattle Times,
probably because Alden Blethen, the owner of the Times, was one of
its investors.41 [Fig 43]
Willard Apartment House at Summit Avenue and Marion Street
(1915; demolished). This three-story building
was mill construction and cost $40,000, built for F. F. Adams, a
Seattle investor.42 The site is now occupied by part of the Swedish
Hospital complex. [Fig 44]
Melrose Building (1915), the subject building of this
report.
A motion picture and vaudeville theater on Pike Street downtown
(Max Umbrecht and John Creutzer, 1916;
unbuilt). This project was for Eugene Levy, owner of the
Hippodrome Theater at Third Avenue and Cherry Street, and was
estimated to cost $400,000. The project was never built. However, a
news article went into detail describing the finished design: The
building was to seat 5000 people, and had the largest stage in the
West; the layout was similar to the existing Hippodrome plan; the
lobby featured a mens smoking room, a womens parlor, a soda
fountain and a candy store; a twenty-five man orchestra was to
provide the music; and the seats were to have a novel electrical
system in which a small light on the backs of seats would indicate
which are vacant and therefore available.43
Fairmount Congregational Church at SW Juneau Street and 42nd
Avenue SW in West Seattle (1919), today
known as West Seattle Church of the Nazarene. This eclectic,
Craftsman-Gothic shingled church features a deeply coved main
auditorium, as well as classrooms and a nursery.44 [Fig 44]
First Presbyterian Churchs Oriental Evangelization Society of
Seattle (1919, demolished). This building, which
had been located at 9th Avenue and Weller Street, and was
presumably demolished for the construction of the Interstate 5
highway.45
Apartment building at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and
Blanchard Street (1922). This project may
have been unbuilt. The owner was J. W. Graff, and the building
was described as five stories, clad in brick and terracotta, and
contained 62 apartments.46
Granada Apartments at E. Howell Street and Belmont Avenue
(1923). This large brick and terracotta
structure is six stories, originally contained 96 two- and
three-room apartments with kitchenettes and Murphy beds, and cost
$400,000 to build.47 [Fig 45]
Apartment building at Fifth Avenue and Cherry Street (1923).
This project may have been unbuilt. It was
described as a six-story, steel frame structure clad in brick
and terracotta, with 107 efficiency apartments.48
39 Boyle Wagoner Architects, Section 8, p.17. 40 Building passes
$9,000,000..., The Seattle Times, January 4, 1914. 41 New apartment
house recently opened, The Seattle Times, February 7, 1915, p.14.
42 New modern three-story apartment house, The Seattle Times, July
11, 1915, p.12. 43 Splendid new theater to be built by Levy, The
Seattle Times, February 14, 1916, p.1. 44 Two new church buildings
planned, The Seattle Times, August 9, 1919, p.7. 45 Ibid. 46 New
apartment house will cost $100,000, The Seattle Times, February 21,
1922, p.5. 47 Increased activity..., The Seattle Times, June 11,
1922, p.21; and Ready for occupancy, March 18, 1923, p.24. 48
Building bids opened, The Seattle Times, February 11, 1923,
p.20.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 18
Apartment building at 4910 Brooklyn Avenue (1923; demolished?).
Brick and terracotta, 33 apartments, for H. Riernertsen.49
Englewood Apartments at 420 Terry Avenue (1923).50
Medical-Dental Building at Westlake, Olive Way, and Fifth Avenue
(1924).51 Perhaps Creutzers best-known
work, this sixteen-story building was hailed at the time as one
of the tallest buildings in Seattle, and an anchor to the north end
of downtown. The design in 1923 was expressed in an Italian
Renaissance style, with Creutzer as design architect, Hamilton Rowe
and Frank Fowler as associated architects. By 1924, Creutzers
design was instead neo-Gothic in a skyscraper mode. The ornate,
terracotta-clad building was designed to fill the entire block
along Olive Street, but only the south end of the site was
initially constructed to full height. The north half of the lot was
completed only to the base. Later, in the 1950s, the north half was
built out, but following a modernist design, and the base was
renovated to match the modernist design. The building was
specifically designed for physicians and dentists to be tenants.
According to one source, A.H. Albertson was a consulting architect
on the project, since he had had experience with the medical suites
at other downtown medical buildings.52 [Fig 46]
Store building for Anton Schwab, in Kirkland, Washington (1924).
53
Store building for Meta Carkeek at Olive Way, Denny Way, and
Summit Avenue (1924).54
The Campus Apartments at 4210 Brooklyn Avenue (1924), also brick
and terracotta, for Hans Reinertsen, and
with 31 apartments.55 [Fig 47]
Pontius Court Apartments at Eastlake and Republican (1925,
demolished). Creutzer owned and developed this project, which
contained 44 efficiency apartments, and was located adjacent to the
c.1910 Republican hill climb. He sold the building for $146,000 in
1927. The building was demolished for the construction of
Interstate 5. 56 [Fig 47]
E. M. Young Block / Ajax Drug building at southwest corner of
Seventh and Pike (1925, demolished).57 [Fig 48]
Charbern Apartments (1926) at 1705 Belmont Avenue.58 [Fig
48]
Union Arms Apartments (1926) at 604 E. Union Street.59 [Fig
49]
Johnson & Hamilton Mortuary (1926) at Madison Avenue and
11th Avenue, today the Gene Lynn Building on
the Seattle University campus.60 [Fig 49] 49 Plans new
apartment, The Seattle Times, March 10, 1923, p.14. 50 Evidence of
real estate activities, The Seattle Times, April 8, 1923, p.20; and
Seattle excels in its apartments, The Seattle Times, July 6, 1924,
p.15. 51 Work starts November 1 on skyscraper! The Seattle Times,
September 26, 1923, p.1; and Sky scraper to cost two million,
September 30, 1923, p.5; Building plans ready, January 6, 1924,
p.15; and Tells of building, article by John Creutzer, May 24,
1925, p.23. 52 Thomas Veith, Albertson Wilson & Richardson, in
Ochsner, p.164. 53 Building contract is let, The Seattle Times,
August 10, 1924, p.26. 54 To build new stores, The Seattle Times,
April 27, 1924, p.21. 55 Seattle excels in its apartments, The
Seattle Times, July 6, 1924, p.15. 56 Building begins well, The
Seattle Times, January 4, 1925, p.12; Big Eastlake structure
completed, August 30, 1925, p.19; and Paul Dorpat, Seattle Now
& Then: The Pontius Court Apartments, October 6, 2012,
www.pauldorpat.com; Pontius Apartments sold..., The Seattle Times,
January 31, 1927, p.8. 57 Building begins well / Will cost $65,000,
The Seattle Times, January 4, 1925, p.12; and Structures sold or to
be built and Remove old buildings, February 1, 1925, p.20; and
Pioneer druggist..., July 20, 1925, p.16. 58 Charbern Apartment...,
The Seattle Times, January 24, 1926, p.17. 59 Union Arms
Apartments, advertisement, The Seattle Times, May 11, 1925, p. 60
Home buying activity..., rendering of building, The Seattle Times,
August 1, 1926, p.14.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 19
Friedlander Court Apartments (1926), on Alki Avenue near 53rd
Avenue SW.61 [Fig 50]
Park Vista Apartments (1928), at 5810 Cowen Place near Cowen
Park.62 [Fig 50]
1923 Fifth Avenue (1928), a two-story terracotta commercial
building occupied originally by the Toledo Scale Company.63 [Fig
51]
El Rio Apartment Hotel / Julie Apartments, 1922 9th Avenue
(1929, a designated Seattle Landmark).64 [Fig 51]
Emanuel Tabernacle Church at 503 N. 50th Street (1930). This
project was completed posthumously.
Creutzer appeared to be somewhat active outside the office, as a
few news citations attest. In 1918 he was appointed to the
three-member Building Appeal Board, the group which decided
contentions between builders and the citys building department. He
was an active member of the Swedish Tabernacle, and served as their
choir director for a time after 1919.65 Creutzer died suddenly in
1929, at age 56, from a heart attack, just as he had arrived home
on a Friday. An obituary in a trade publication stated that his
popularity was attested by the large funeral cortege, composed of
fellow architects, and contractors and materials men with whom he
had business and personal relations during his long residence in
Seattle. At least one existing project, a church, was completed
after his death. His wife Hilma remained a member of First Covenant
Church for the rest of her life, and died in 1958, at age 85.
66
61 Friedlander court adjoins salt water, The Seattle Times,
October 31, 1926, p.30. 62 5810 Cowen Place, Historic Resources
Survey, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Office of Historic
Preservation, retrieved November 28, 2012. 63 Contract is let...,
August 26, 1928, p.9. 64 Historic Resources Survey, Seattle
Department of Neighborhoods Office of Historic Preservation,
retrieved November 28, 2012. 65 Swedish church shows prosperity,
The Seattle Times, Feb. 1, 1919, p.8; and Woman Appointed..., May
10, 1918, p.15. 66 Funeral services for architect..., The Seattle
Times, August 25, 1929, p.2; and John A. Creutzer, Pacific Builder
& Engineer, September 7, 1929, p.46; Mrs. John Creutzer,
obituary, The Seattle Times, April 29, 1958, p.42.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 20
V. BIBLIOGRAPHY Architect and Engineer. (1919). San Francisco,
CA: Architect and engineer. Artifacts Consulting, Downtown
Wenatchee Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Registration form, National Park Service, US Department of the
Interior, prepared July 23, 2008. Bagley, Clarence. History of King
County, Washington - Volume IV. Seattle: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1929. Berner, Richard C. Seattle 1900-1920:
From Boomtown, Urban Turbulence, to Restoration. Seattle: Charles
Press, 1991. BOLA Architecture + Planning, 1205 East Pine Street,
Seattle Landmark Nomination, June 2007. Boyle Wagoner Architects,
El Rio Apartment Hotel National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form, December 17, 1998. City of Seattle:
Department of Neighborhoods, Historic Resources Survey database,
www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/historicresources
Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Library,
permit records and drawings. Department Of Planning and Development
Parcel Data, 2010. www.seattle.gov. Department of Planning and
Development, Directors Rule 3-2012, Character structures that
cannot be
demolished if incentives allowing additional height and floor
size are used on a lot within the Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay
District, February 27, 2012.
Clarke, S. J. Seattle: Deluxe Supplement to the History of
Seattle. Seattle: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916. D.A.
Sanborn. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Seattle, Washington (various
dates) maps accessed from Seattle Public Libraries, online.
www.spl.org. HistoryLink, the Online Encyclopedia to Washington
State History. www.historylink.org. Johnson, Larry E. Ballard
Carnegie Free Public Library, Seattle Landmark nomination report,
November 2011. Ketcherside, Rob. Undermining the Republican Senator
from Melrose, February 26, 2012, Re:Take history column,
www.capitolhillseattle.com. King County Assessors Records, at Puget
Sound Regional Archives, at Bellevue Community College, Bellevue,
WA. King County Parcel Viewer website.
www.metrokc.gov/gis/mapportal/PViewer_main. Kroll Map Company Inc.,
"Kroll Map of Seattle," various dates. Nyberg, Folke, and Victor
Steinbrueck, for the Historic Seattle Preservation and Development
Authority. Capitol Hill: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design
Resources. Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975. Nyberg, Folke, and
Victor Steinbrueck, for the Historic Seattle Preservation and
Development Authority. First Hill: An Inventory of Buildings and
Urban Design Resources. Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975. Ochsner,
Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide
to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, and Dennis Alan Andersen. Distant Corner:
Seattle Architects and the Legacy of HH Richardson. Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 2003.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 21
Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). University
Libraries, University of Washington, Seattle. Alan Michelson,
2005-2012. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect. R.L. Polk
and Company. Polks Directory to the City of Seattle. Seattle:
various dates. Rosenberg, Casey. Streetcar Suburb: Architectural
Roots of a Seattle Neighborhood. Seattle, WA: Fanlight Press, 1989.
Seattle House and Street Directory-1928. Portland, Oregon: H.C.
Grey, 1928. The Seattle Times newspaper. Seattle, Washington.
Includes previous incarnations as The Seattle Press Times, The
Seattle Daily Times, and The Seattle Sunday Times. Sheridan,
Frances Amelia. Apartment House Development on Seattles Queen Anne
Hill Prior to World War II. Unpublished masters thesis, Department
of Urban Design, University of Washington, 1994. Sheridan, Mimi.
Historic Property Survey Report: Seattles Commercial Districts.
City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods, 2002. Veka, Clay H.
Seattles Street Railway System and the Urban Form: Lessons from the
Madison Street Cable Car. Unpublished paper, University of
Washington, March 14, 2007. Washington State Division of Archives
and Record Management. Historic Photo and Assessor Documentation.
Williams, Jacqueline. "A New Seattle Neighborhood, Courtesy of J.
A. Moore." Columbia Magazine, Spring 2002, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.
30-35. Williams, Jacqueline. The Hill With A Future: Seattle's
Capitol Hill, 1900-1946. Seattle: CPK Ink, 2001. Woodbridge, Sally,
and Roger Montgomery. A Guide to Architecture in Washington State.
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1980.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 22
VI. PREPARER AND REVIEWER INFORMATION Submitted & Prepared
by: Nicholson Kovalchick Architects 310 First Avenue S., Suite 4-S
Seattle WA 98104 Phone: 206-933-1150 Contact: David R. Peterson
Email: [email protected] Direct: 206-494-9791
Date: December 27, 2012 Reviewed by: Date:
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 23
VII. REPORT ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig 1 - Site map; red box indicates location of site. North is
up. (Google Maps, 2012)
Fig 2 - Site map; red dotted box indicates location of site.
North is up. (Google Maps, 2012)
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 24
Fig 3 Neighborhood context: East side of Melrose, between Pike
and Pine. House at center was built prior to the
regrading of the local streets; the apartment building at left
was built after regrading.
Fig 4 Neighborhood context: View west along E. Pine Street.
Arrow indicates subject property.
Fig 5 Neighborhood context: View north along Melrose Avenue.
Arrow indicates subject property.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 25
Fig 6 Neighborhood context: View east along E. Pine Street, just
downhill from Melrose Avenue. Arrow indicates
subject property.
Fig 7 Neighborhood context: View south along Melrose Avenue;
Butterworth Mortuary at left. Arrow indicates
subject property.
Fig 8 Neighborhood context: (Left and Right) Views southwestward
of block bounded by Melrose and Pine, across
Melrose from subject building. Arrow indicates subject
property.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 26
Fig 9 Earliest found image of building, from a brief article
from the July 5, 1917 issue of Motorcycle and Bicycle Illustrated
magazine (p.23), so presumably from early 1917.
Fig 10 Photograph of a photograph currently displayed in Bauhaus
Books & Coffee. Image undated, but c.1917-1925, showing early
occupants of the building, Excelsior Motorcycle & Bicycle
Company, and Keystone Welding and Brazing.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 27
Fig 11 1937 Tax Assessor photo (Puget Sound Regional
Archives)
Fig 12 The Melrose Building in 2012 (photo by Hewitt
Architects). House at upper right pre-dates the Pine and Pike
Street regrades, which also included Melrose Avenue.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 28
Fig 13 North elevation in 2012.
Fig 14 North elevation in 2012.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 29
Fig 15 Detail, north elevation, showing decorative brick panels,
diamond-shaped tile, pier capitals, and window sash.
Fig 16 Interior, Bauhaus Books, which occupies the westernmost
storefront. View from upper level balcony, looking
onto Pine Street.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 30
Fig 17 Interior in 2011, Bauhaus Books, showing at right an
interior support post, and the freestanding structure
which contains kitchen and counter at ground level, and provides
mezzanine seating accessed by stairs against far wall (not visible
in this photo). (Photo by Solsken, from Flickr.com)
Fig 18 Interior, Bauhaus Books, in 2007, showing freestanding
counter/mezzanine seating area, at left, and Pine Street
windows at right. The interior remains essentially unchanged in
2012. (Photo by Nicholas Boos, from Flickr.com)
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 31
Fig 19 Interior of Bauhaus Books, in 2012. View from mezzanine
seating area. Windows open onto Melrose Avenue
at left, and Pine Street at right.
Fig 20 Interior of Bauhaus Books, in 2012. View of mezzanine
seating area, and the party wall along the south
property line, at left.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 32
Fig 21 Interior, easternmost commercial storefront, in 2012;
currently occupied by professional offices.
Fig 22 Interior in 2012; showing the three easternmost bays
occupied by professional offices.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 33
Fig 23 Interior in 2012; showing the three easternmost bays
occupied by professional offices.
Fig 24 Interior in 2012; showing the three easternmost bays
occupied by professional offices. This stair leads to an
upper level loft space, which provides additional space
underneath for storage rooms, restrooms, and the like.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 34
Fig 25 Interior in 2012; showing upper level loft space.
Fig 26 Interior in 2012; showing upper level loft space. Windows
shown here are transom windows at the middle-bay
entry to the professional offices, immediately to the left of
the storefronts occupied by Bauhaus Books & Coffee.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 35
Fig 27 (Left) Grace Hospital, b.1885-87; (Right) Summit School
which replaced it, b.1905 (both images from
www.pauldorpat.com)
Fig 28 Detail, USGS 1899 topographic map of Seattle. Contour
lines represent 20 feet in elevation; darker blocks
represent denser settlement. Red box indicates site; arrows
indicates Capitol Hill ridge. (UW maps, T-2421)
Fig 29 Pine Street regrade, (Left) diagram showing existing and
proposed grades c.1900 (SPU 76-24-1) ; (Right)
Undated view north along Melrose at Minor, from Pike Street
towards Pine Street (a block from the subject parcel), showing
regrading underway (UW Spec Coll SEA1305).
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 36
Fig 30 Detail, 1905 Sanborn maps #191 and 219 (two maps stitched
together); red arrow indicates location of site; the lot has not
yet been subdivided into two parcels. North is up. Note Swedish
Mission Church at Bellevue & Pike,
and Grace Hospital at Crawford, Union, & Summit.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 37
Fig 31 Development of neighborhood. (Left) Swedish Mission
Church at Pike and Bellevue in 1900, later replaced by the Swedish
Tabernacle in 1910 (www.firstcovenantseattle.org); (Right) House at
NW corner of Pike and Melrose in
1909 (today the location of the Six Arms pub); the roof peak of
the Swedish Mission Church is barely visible at far right (UW Spec
Coll LEE219).
Fig 32 Pike and Bellevue in 1917, one block from the subject
site. Wintonia Hotel/Apartments visible at upper left.
View is from one-story building in middle of Fig. 31 above.
(Asahel Curtis, UW Spec Coll CUR1367)
Fig 33 Development of the neighborhood. (Left) Butterworth
Mortuary (b.1922), across Pine from the subject
building, in 1923 (MOHAI 1983.10.2561.3); (Right) 1216 Pine
Street (kitty corner from the subject building), b.1967.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 38
Fig 34 1912 Baist map; red dotted box indicates location of
site. North is up.
Fig 35 Detail, 1951 Sanborn maps #191 and 219 (two maps stitched
together), showing the development of the neighborhood, with
increased commercial development along Pike and Pine; red dotted
box indicates location of site. North is up. Note Swedish
Tabernacle at Bellevue & Pike, and Summit Public School at
Crawford, Union, & Summit.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 39
(Left) Packard dealership at Pike and Melrose, b.1920; (Right)
Seattle Automobile Co. at 1000 E. Pike, b.1912.
(Left) Universal Auto Repair at 1611 Boylston, b.1923; (Right)
Triangle Auto Parts at 1001 E. Pike, b. 1916.
(Left) Liebeck Garage at 1101 E. Pike, b.1911; (Right) Carr
Brothers Auto Repair at 401 E. Pine, b.1910.
Fig 36 Automobile-related buildings which are listed as
character structures in the DPDs Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay
District, from approximately the same period as the subject
building. Names listed are historic names. Images
are all tax assessor photos.
Fig 37 Boundaries of the DPD Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay
District (yellow), showing conservation core of the
densest location of targeted properties (blue). Subject site
indicated by red arrow. North is up.
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 40
Fig 38 Early work by John Creutzer with other architects: Left,
Hawthorn Apartments (Kingsley, Eastman & Creutzer,
1909; rendering from The Seattle Times, Feb. 7, 1909, p.6);
Right, 203 W. Comstock (Quandt & Creutzer, 1912; tax assessor
photo)
Fig 39 Other work by John Creutzer: Left and Right, Swedish
Tabernacle or First Covenant Church (Creutzer, 1910;
rendering from The Seattle Times, May 3, 1910, p.8)
Fig 40 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, Grand Central
Building, Wenatchee, Washington (1912, altered; image
from Artifacts Consulting, Downtown Wenatchee National Register
of Historic Places report); Right, Colonial Theater, Seattle (1914,
demolished; image from UW Spec. Coll. SEA0259).
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 41
Fig 41 Possible work by John Creutzer: 1527 Broadway (1913) was
described as a two-story masonry building, but no image from the
1937 tax assessor photos corresponding to that address could be
found for this reportnote that 1525 and 1529 are shown above.
However, due to addressing errors, it is possible that the
two-story building on the
right is the 1527 building, but this has not been confirmed.
(Tax assessor images, both showing view in 1937).
Fig 42 Other work by John Creutzer: 610-618 E. Pike (1913). This
1937 tax assessor photo shows only three bays of
this five-bay building; the decorative parapet feature occupies
the center bay of the facade. The building today is dramatically
altered.
Fig 43 Other work by John Creutzer: Left and Right, Carolina
Court Apartments (1915) (Tax assessor photo;
rendering from The Seattle Times, February 7, 1915, p.14).
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 42
Fig 44 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, Willard Apartment
House (1915, demolished; image from The Seattle
Times, July 11, 1915, p.12); Right, Fairmount Congregational
Church, or West Seattle Church of the Nazarene (1919)
Fig 45 Other work by John Creutzer: Left and Right, Granada
Apartments (1923). (Tax assessor photo; rendering
from The Seattle Times, June 11, 1922, p.21)
Fig 46 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, rendering of the
Medical-Dental Building (1924) as designed by Creutzer (image from
The Seattle Times, January 6, 1924, p.15); Right, the
Medical-Dental Building as completed after the first
phase--only the south half was built, in a terracotta Gothic
revival style. The north half was completed (and the 2-story base
altered) in the 1950s in a modernist style (Photo by Asahel Curtis;
UW Spec. Coll. CUR1507).
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 43
Fig 47 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, The Campus Apartments
(1924; tax assessor photo); Right, Pontius
Court Apartments (1925, demolished; pauldorpat.com), adjacent to
the Republican Street Hillclimb (partly demolished) at Eastlake
Avenue.
Fig 48 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, E.M. Young Block
(1925, demolished); Right, Charbern Apartments (1926)
Fig 49 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, Union Arms Apartments
(1926); Right, Johnson & Hamilton Mortuary,
today the Gene Lynn Building of Seattle University (1926). (Both
tax assessor photos)
-
Nicholson Kovalchick Architects Melrose Building Seattle
Landmark Nomination January 25, 2013 44
Fig 50 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, Friedlander Court
Apartments on Alki Beach (1926); Right, Park Vista Apartments near
Cowen Park (1928). (Both tax assessor photos)
Fig 51 Other work by John Creutzer: Left, 1923 Fifth Avenue
building (1928); Right, El Rio Apartment Hotel, today known as the
Julie Apartments (1929). (Both tax assessor photos)
-
davidPolygonal Line
davidCalloutSUBJECT SITE