| Historic Name: |
Ben Lomond Apartments |
Common Name: |
Ben Lomond Apartments |
| Style: |
Spanish - Mission |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1910 |
| |
| Significance |
|
|
|
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
|
|
The Ben Lomond is especially notable for its siting, once at the edge of a cliff above the Cascade neighborhood, and now visible to everyone because of the construction of I-5 beneath it. It dates from 1910, a period of considerable development in Seattle, perhaps related to the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Newspaper articles indicated that the building was intended exclusively for families with children, as it had only 21 apartments with a rooftop playground and sunrooms. (Paul Dorpat, "The Cliff Hanger," Seattle Times, April 11, 2004). The hipped-roof sunrooms are still distinctive. The original design showed a Mission influence, but the arched Mission-style parapets have been removed, probably due to earthquake damage.
This is the best known work of architect Elmer Ellsworth Green, who worked in Seattle from 1907 until 1915. He designed more than thirty residences, apartment buildings and sorority houses. In he also published a book of house plans, featuring photos and plans for sixty houses in Seattle. In 1912 he opened a practice in Victoria.
|
|
| |
| Appearance |
| The dramatically-sited Ben Lomond has three stories above the entry (on the east side, and two more levels below on the hillside. Cladding is very dark clinker brick with light colored brick accents around the windows and in the entry bay. The entry portico, at the north end of the east façade, is set within a two-story arch; concrete and brick columns support the portico. The door has leaded glass; a modern sliding door has been added at the side of the entryway. Pent roofs with oversized brackets run along most of the top floor windows, retaining some of the Mission-style flavor. At each end of the east façade is a rounded bay with a crenellated top. The most distinctive features are the two stucco-clad hipped-roof pavilions on the roof, originally used as sunrooms for residents. Windows have newer one-over-one sash. |
|
|
