| Historic Name: |
Metropolitan Printing Press Co. |
Common Name: |
Brasa |
| Style: |
Spanish - Mediterranean |
Neighborhood: |
Belltown |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1923 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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This elegant commercial building was designed in 1923 by G. W. Stoddard, who designed several important Belltown buildings. The owner was George F. Thompson and the long-time tenant was the Metropolitan Printing Press Company, one of numerous light industrial uses that took advantage of Belltown’s cheaper land that allowed companies to have larger facilites with easier truck access, while still being close to downtown customers. In 1931 Metropolitan Press opened a second plant nearby at 2601 3rd Avenue, another architecturally distinctive work of Stoddard's. They seem to have used this plant to print the Daily Racing Form, which may have had offices here as well. However, by the late 1930s this was the Grand Furniture Company warehouse. It has been converted to commercial use, with a restaurant on the first floor and an office on the second floor.
George Wellington Stoddard (1896-1967) entered into partnership with his father, Lewis M. Stoddard, following his graduation from the University of Illinois. Following his father’s death in 1929, he practiced alone until 1955, and then practiced in partnership with Francis Huggard. He designed larger homes, as well as apartment buildings, clinics, banks and other commercial structures. His best known works are Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center (1947) and the Green Lake Aqua Theater (1950).
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| Appearance |
| This striking building is distinguished by the two-story arches on the main façade. The arched restaurant entry is in the wider center bay, with a small arched doorway at the north end for the offices, matched by a smaller arched window in the south bay. The two bays on each side of the center bay have a tall 12-light lower window on the first floor, with an arched 12-light window on the second story. Prominent spandrels between floors have a circle motif; according to the original plans these are made of wood. Cladding is buff-colored brick with prominent red clay tile coping and green accent tiles. The parapet rises in a stepped, flattened arch above the center bay, with smaller arches at the corners; each of these parapets has a blind arch filled with stucco. The former gas station adjacent on the south is similar in materials and style. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Unknown |
| Building Type: |
Industry/Processing/Extraction - Communications |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Brick |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Manufacturing/Industry |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
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City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
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