| Historic Name: |
Peck and Hills Furniture Company & Baxley Dress Manufacturing Company |
Common Name: |
"Mart Bldg/ Seattle Times/ Telecoms/ 13 Coins" |
| Style: |
Art Deco - PWA Moderne, Modern - Contemporary |
Neighborhood: |
South Lake Union |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1929 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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The original building in this complicated ensemble was the wider structure with four stories on Boren Avenue and eight stories on Terry Avenue. It was designed by Los Angeles architect Albert C. Martin in 1928 for the Peck and Hills Furniture Company and was completed by 1929. At that time, the building also housed the Baxley Dress Manufacturing Company. On the interior, the eastern part of the first floor was fairly open, while the western portion had regularly spaced concrete columns. Regularly spaced concrete columns took over on the upper floors.
On the exterior, the end bays originally had raised, gable shapes at the parapet level, with square ornamental shapes at the parapet level. The squares are still subtly visible, although it is not clear from early photographs whether the squares originally had ornamentation or were in a material other than stucco. There were also window openings, corresponding to the upper bays at the street and basement levels. There was also a doorway at the north bay and one at the fourth bay from the north, presumably providing a separate entry along Boren Avenue for each of the businesses.
Both doorways had transoms which ended in a low triangular shape, giving the doorways a slightly neo-Gothic flavor. A photo in the Webster and Stevens Collection at the Museum of History and Industry, dated April 15, 1929, shows that there were no buildings to the north. More or less regular spaced industrial sash windows filled the long north elevation, which was meant to be fairly utilitarian.
Drawings were made for the building in 1945 by Henry Bittman, (architect and engineer), for repairs to the “roof of the Bon Marche warehouse.” Further interior alterations were also made for the Bon Marche in 1949 and in 1956, when Durham, Anderson and Freed did work for the “Bon Marche Service Building.” The major changes to the Boren Avenue elevation at the ground floor level and the addition of the south wing were made in 1965 for the Farwest Furniture Mart: The distinctive main bays of the 1929 building appear to have been covered over at this time, according to a 1966 photograph. The fenestration of the south wing along Boren Avenue had the current openings, but the actual divisions between the glass were different. It appears that possibly a portion of the north wing may have been added in 1965, as well; however there was a major addition for the “13 Coins Restaurant,” involving open web truss joists as late as 1978. The pebble finish at the end of the Boren Avenue façade and the north elevation probably dates from that 1978 addition.
By 1985, the entire complex still belonged to “Furniture Mart,” supplanting the earlier “Farwest Furniture Mart,” although in 1979, the name was “Northwest Furniture Mart,” and an earlier photo from 1967 simply called the place the “Mart,” a name that has sometimes stuck. The Seattle Times, however, seems to be the main, current tenant. The building underwent a major seismic/ life safety upgrade, according to designs provided by the architecture firm, Callison, in 2003.
The building has undergone significant changes beginning in 1965; however the main four story building from 1929 has kept a significant portion of its historical material and detailing, particularly on the Boren Avenue elevation, so that it can be considered significant. In addition, the doorway with ceramic tile surround appears as though it may well date from the late 1920s, as well, so that it should be considered a significant element. The subsequent cosmetic changes, particularly from 1965 and thereafter, are not architecturally or historically significant.
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| Appearance |
| This is a building, made up of several structures, which have been added to over the years. While the overall plan appears to be a T shape, the height of the entire ensemble varies markedly and also depends on grade changes from Boren Avenue to Terry Avenue. The building is located between Boren Avenue to the east and Terry Avenue on the west, with a minor elevation along Denny Way.
Boren Avenue elevation
The main façade is along Boren Avenue. A remodeled ground level, which appears to be from 1965 or possibly 1966, has given common detailing and cladding to what were three structures and an additional wing to one of these: a southern three story structure which included a penthouse level, a four story addition, next to an older and wider four story structure and a one story, north wing.
Common elements at the ground level include glazed openings over a very low sill, set in heavy metal frames, and usually divided into four, as well as two sets of double doors in the four story wing, with similar hardware. Cladding consists of small pieces of roughly cut pink stone, set in what appears to be a base of dark, grey concrete. This is used continuously as cladding across almost the entire face of the ground level of the Boren St elevation, until the end of the one story north wing, which has a pebble finish and includes one single door. Topping the concrete and stone cladding is a continuous, slightly projecting, box-like construction, which appears to be clad in stucco or eifs and painted beige. This becomes the face of the three story elevation of the south wing.
The most imposing portion of the Boren Street façade is a central four story concrete structure. Above the ground floor, which has the common 1960s detailing, the façade, which is mainly clad in stucco, is architecturally distinctive. Slightly projecting end bays, with subtly recessed squares at the parapet level, flank four interior three-story bays. The four bays are separated from each other by buttress-like shapes, which stop just above the level of the recessed bays. Each bay is divided into three sections by three-story piers, topped by a characteristic capital, which looks like an enlarged molding shape. The face of the capital starts with a deep fillet, which surmounts a cyma recta, or a concave, then convex shape, with the convex shape protruding out over a bead molding. On each floor, within each bay, the central section is slightly wider than the two flanking sections. Currently the shafts of the piers are painted yellow, while the “capitals” are painted silver.
To the south, a four story addition, which appears to be much more recent, provides additional interior space and a transition to the lower, south wing. The addition, which has concrete block exterior wall, provides another double door entry with awning and pairs of small punched windows at the second, third and fourth floors. The parapet is straight and continuous between the main four story structure and this addition.
Terry Avenue elevation
Along Terry Avenue, because of the change in grade from Boren Avenue to Terry Avenue, which slopes down, the back of the four story building becomes eight stories, while the back of the two story, south structure slopes down to six stories. (The one story structure is not deep enough to have a Terry Avenue elevation and has other construction from a different parcel in front of it). In general, west and south elevations have original openings, as well as new, smaller, square punched openings with, in many places, new concrete cladding with repeated and regularly spaced depressions, to create visual texture in the concrete (mild Brutalism). The many changes are due to a recent remodel.
While most of the west elevation is far from intact, the most northern bay retains an original doorway with a ceramic tile surround, in addition to original industrial sash windows at the second, third and fourth stories. The ceramic tile includes two tiles with a coat of arms motif toward the top of the door jamb, as well as repeated ornamented tile with symmetrically placed anthemia decorations. There is also original industrial sash window in all the 7th floor openings of the west elevation, which corresponds to the original four story structure along Boren Avenue. |
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