| Historic Name: |
Boettiger/Corbett House |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Italian - Italian Renaissance |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1926 |
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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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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This house is notable for both its architectural style and its history. It was designed in 1926 for Roy Corbett, a Cadillac dealer, by Schack, Young & Myers, a very prominent local firm. In 1938 it was purchased by John Boettiger, publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and his wife, Anna Roosevelt Boettiger, daughter of the president. Franklin Roosevelt visited them here, and his wife came several times on her Depression-era tours of the nation. The house had originally been designed for conversion to a duplex to accommodate the Corbett’s adult daughter, with a side entrance and staff living quarters that could be separated from the main house. When the Boettigers lived here, partitions were installed for living quarters for the Secret Service. When the war began, the Boettigers moved back to Washington, selling the house to A. W. and Genevieve Brindle, who owned it until 2002. The partitions have been removed and the interior remodeled into one house once again. (Kreisman, Lawrence, “Mediterranean Revival,” Pacific Northwest Magazine, Seattle Times, May 22, 2005)
David Myers had come to Seattle from Glasgow in 1889 and worked for several local firms before leaving to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of technology. He returned in 1905 to work with John Graham, Sr., where he was the principal designer until 1910. He then opened his own practice, becoming well known for residential, civic and religious work, as well as his work on the Bogue Commission plan for a new civic center; he was also one the faculty of the University of Washington from 1917 to 1920. During this period he shared office space with James Schack, and in 1920 they formed a partnership with engineer Arrigo Young. This became one of the city’s most prominent firms, designing the Seattle Civic Auditorium complex, the town of Longview and numerous residences and commercial buildings. In 1929 Myers left the firm (which remained in existence until the 1990s), and returned to private practice until his death in 1936.
James Hansen Schack, a native of the Schlesweg region of Germany, arrived in Seattle in 1901 after receiving architectural training at various Chicago firms. He was a partner of Daniel Huntington from 1907-09, primarily designing apartments, commercial buildings and residences, as well as the First United Methodist Church in downtown Seattle. He is best known, however, for his later partnership with David Myers and Arrigo Young, which began in 1920. Young, born in London, had studied engineering at the University of Michigan and came to Seattle in 1910 to work for the Moran Company. He had his own engineering practice before joining Schack
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| Appearance |
| This is one of Seattle’s best examples of the Italian Renaissance style, with stucco cladding and a hipped red tile roof. The recessed entry is at the angle of the ell, flanked with twisted columns. Above is a blind arch with an ornate shield motif. The blind arch is repeated on a window to the east of the entry; to the west is a polygonal bay with a copper roof and five windows. The second story has two wrought iron balconies, a small one above the entry and a large one on the south end of the wing; French doors open onto it. The west end of the main façade has a group of three pairs of casement windows, framed by twisted columns. |
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