| Historic Name: |
Fischer and MacDonald Wholesale Store |
Common Name: |
606 Post Avenue Condominium |
| Style: |
Commercial, Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque |
Neighborhood: |
Pioneer Square |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1892 |
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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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This building, constructed as the Fischer and McDonald Wholesale Store, was completed in 1892. Based on historic photographs and drawings, the building appears to be intact, except for the obvious changes to the double height storefront level. The building is also interesting in terms of the careers of Elmer Fisher and Emil DeNeuf, both of whom produced important buildings in the Pioneer Square district. Elmer Fisher produced an incredible number of buildings, especially between 1889 and 1891 in what became the Pioneer Square Historic District and is considered the most prolific architect after the Great Fire of June 6, 1889. Emil DeNeuf began his career in Seattle, working for Fisher. Some architectural historians believe that he may even the real designer of buildings produced in Fisher’s office that are usually credited to Fisher. In the case of this building, Elmer Fisher had designed a building for this site, the Feurer Building in 1889, but it had not been built at the time. In 1892, DeNeuf was the supervising architect on the construction of the present building. Whether or how much DeNeuf redesigned the building is unclear, however. In any case, it is typical of early buildings erected in the “burnt district,” after the Fire.
Aside from the great number of buildings that Fisher produced from 1889 to 1891, what we know about his career is somewhat spotty. It is known that he came to the Pacific Northwest in 1886 and designed buildings in Vancouver, Victoria and Port Townsend, before coming to Seattle in 1889. His most well-known work in Seattle is the Pioneer Building, which he designed for Henry Yesler. By 1891, despite the accolades the Pioneer Building received in 1892, he had abandoned his career as an architect to run the Abbott Hotel in Seattle, which he had also designed and built.
Emil DeNeuf arrived in Seattle in 1889 and began his career as a draftsman in Elmer Fisher’s office. While working for Fisher, he was also responsible for the Metropole Hotel and the First Avenue façade of the fire-damaged Schwabacher Building, both in the Pioneer Square district. He had an independent practice by the end of 1891. He was retained by Henry Yesler to complete the upper floors of Mutual Life Building, originally the “Yesler Building,” which Fisher had begun. DeNeuf also was the designer of the Lowman and Hanford Building. His partnership with Augustus Heide, with whom he designed the Lowman Building (ca.1906), lasted from 1901 to 1906. (For additional information on Fisher and DeNeuf, please see the Context Statement).
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| Appearance |
| The Post Hotel is five story building, square in plan with flat roof and parapet. The main elevation faces Yesler Way. There is a second street elevation facing west on Post Alley (Avenue). Above the double height storefront on Yesler Way, the symmetrical façade is divided into three bays of equal width. The building is mainly clad in red brick, but the composition of the Yesler Way elevation is accented by light colored, (it looks white in many places), rusticated stone trim. Stone trim occurs at the belt course above the double height storefront, again above the third floor trabeated windows and as a continuous band above the fourth floor main window openings. It is also used for the fourth and fifth floor window sills and occurs over the arches of the fourth floor clerestory windows and between the fifth story windows and clerestories. Finally, rusticated stone punctuates the top of the façade. Another notable feature is the textured brick pattern of shallow incised rectilinear shapes between the arches of the fifth floor windows and the top of the parapet.
The side and west elevation is less composed, but has many regularly spaced windows with segmental arches and a cast-iron storefront, a continuation of the storefront of the façade, located on the south part of this elevation. The cast-iron storefront is divided into three bays by posts, which flair out at the top in a gentle curve. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
NR, LR |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Metal, Stone - Ashlar/cut |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Commercial/Trade - Warehouse |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Masonry - Unreinforced |
No. of Stories: |
five |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Storefront: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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Luxton, Donald, editor,, Building the West: the Early Architects of British Columbia. Vancouver B.C.: Talonbooks, 2003, 244-5.
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Ochsner, Jeffrey and Dennis Andersen. Distant Corner: Seattle Architects and The Legacy of H. H. Richardson. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2004.
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“The Lowman Building, 107 Cherry Street, Historic Preservation Certification Application, Part I,” 5 February 2004. . Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, State of Washington, Olympia, Washington, Microfiche File.
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The Conservation Company. “ Lowman-Hanford Building, 612-616 First Avenue, Historic Preservation Certification, Part 1,” April 1982. Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, State of Washington, Olympia, Washington, Microfiche File.
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An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Company, 1906.
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