| Historic Name: |
Maud Building |
Common Name: |
Maud Building |
| Style: |
Commercial, Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque |
Neighborhood: |
Pioneer Square |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1890 |
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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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The Maud Building was designed in 1889 and completed in 1890 by Saunders and Houghton. The Saunders and Houghton partnership had been created in 1889, because Saunders had a backlog of work. While it was begun by Charles Saunders alone, this is supposed to be one of the first projects the firm took on soon after the partnership was formed. The building was built for William Maud and housed a hotel on its upper floors. It was built right after the Fire of 1889, although in terms of style, it seems to have much in common with some of the buildings of the subsequent wave of building during the Gold Rush. While it was built earlier than the other buildings on the same block, the Smith, Squire and Crown Hotel Buildings, it also became part of an area of the city, which thrived as a result of the Gold Rush.
Charles Saunders appears to have first come to Seattle in 1889 as a result of his association with William Elder Bailey, whom he had met in California. William Bailey, the son of a leading Pennsylvania iron and steel manufacturer, was involved in the rebuilding of Seattle right after the Fire and provided capital for many local ventures in real estate, railroads and newspapers. Saunders had grown up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Saunders practiced architecture for a time, from 1886 to 1889, in Pasadena, California, along with his wife, Mary, before moving to Seattle in June 1889. By September of 1889, he had formed a partnership with Edwin Houghton, whom he may have also met in California. Edwin Houghton was born in Hampshire, England in 1856 and came from a family of quantity surveyors and architects. He was apprenticed in the London architectural office of Thomas Houghton, his brother and in Chelsea. After working as a farmer outside of El Paso, Texas and running an independent architectural practice in Pasadena, California, he moved with his family to Port Townsend, Washington in early 1889. Saunders and Houghton also designed the Olympic Block, once located on the corner of Yesler and First Avenue South, which collapsed famously and dramatically in 1972. The partnership dissolved in 1891. For more information on Saunders and Houghton, and subsequent career moves, please see the Context Statement or Field No. 32 (Terry Denny Building).
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| Appearance |
| The Maud Building is a narrow three story building, clad mainly in red brick. Visual interest is created by the contrast between light gray trim brick and small areas of gray stone with the predominant red brick. Lozenge shaped openings created in brick also emphasize the top of the parapet wall. The ground floor level has a clerestoried storefront, divided into three sections by very thin, cast-iron columns. A short overhang set over cast-iron and ornamented brackets surmounts the columns. To the side and south of the storefront is a narrow door opening with a semi-circular arch. This opening consists of a doorway, topped by an interim clerestory and then a semi-circular lunette. The second and third floors bays consist each of two sets of paired windows, with flat arches for the second floor openings and semi-circular openings at the third level. Typically, the second floor openings have single double-hung windows, topped by a transom, created by a stone lintel. “Quoining” is created visually at the second and third floors by the use of light colored bricks which contrast with the predominant red brick. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
NR, LR |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Metal, Stone |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Hotel |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Masonry - Unreinforced |
No. of Stories: |
three |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Social Movements & Organizations |
| Integrity |
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Storefront: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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