| Historic Name: |
Store for Midland Investment Company; Savemore Food Store (and other stores) |
Common Name: |
915 Howell Street |
| Style: |
Commercial |
Neighborhood: |
Denny Triangle |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1923 |
| |
| Significance |
|
|
|
This commercial building dates from 1923 and was built on the former site of a frame residence, built in 1901. The building was originally designed as a “store” for the Midland Investment Company. According to a 1936 photo, the building has always housed a variety of shops and probably had more signage than it did today. In 1936, the northwest corner of the building (Howell and Terry Street) at 927 was occupied by a grocery store, the Savemore Food Store. Other businesses included the “Nite Owl Beer Parlor,” at 923, Mrs. F. C. Hauser, Barber and Ken’s Radio. By 1978, the northwest corner shop was a tavern. There was also a deli, located next to a barber shop, adjacent to a pizza parlor in the southern storefront. By 1980, “921 Howell” (third shop from the north) became a private sauna. This is a typical commercial building of the 1920s, which has always served modest commercial needs. Like many commercial buildings of this period, despite its basic function, it was designed with references to high style architecture. It still retains pleasing details, including its exterior cladding, as well as storefronts that still reflect the building’s original use and appearance. For a commercial building of its time, size and use, it remains reasonably intact and evocative of the original commercial neighborhood and of the local Westlake Market, which is long gone.
|
|
| |
| Appearance |
| This is a one story commercial building with an irregular footprint (120’ x 126’ x 22’x 47’), which gives the impression of having a regular footprint from Howell St. The main façade along Howell Street corresponds to the longest dimension. The façade is long and was originally divided by engaged piers into seven storefronts. Construction drawings from a 1980 remodel show that by then the storefronts had been modified to six storefronts. Storefront glazing has also been replaced, with transoms covered by painted plywood, adorned with diamond shapes. Nevertheless, the overall impression, even at the storefront level, is similar to the original design. Distinctive and original features include the varied brick pattern, created in buff and darker brick, as well as the repeated circular cast stone medallions, set over the storefronts. Also of note is detailing of the parapet, which is slightly raised over five central storefronts and is depressed over the intervening piers. |
|
|
| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
INV |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Metal, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Commercial/Trade - Business |
Plan: |
Irregular |
| Structural System: |
Masonry - Unreinforced |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Commerce, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
|
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
|
Storefront: |
Slight |
|
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
|
| Major Bibliographic References |
|
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
|
|
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
|
|
King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
|
|
|
