| Historic Name: |
Spalding, A. W. House |
Common Name: |
Spalding/Wilson House |
| Style: |
Various |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1904 |
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| Significance |
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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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A small portion of the Spalding/Wilson House was constructed about 1890 with an extensive remodel in 1904, followed by another remodel in 1919. About 1890 George and Mary Page constructed a residence on the property. Although this residence was later incorporated into later remodels, little remains of the original structure.
Albert Walter Spalding (b. 1859), born and raised in Massachusetts, graduated in 1881 from Boston University. During the next two decades, he practiced architecture in St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Lewiston, Idaho. In Minnesota, he designed business blocks, churches, schools, and courthouses throughout the state. Northern Pacific Railroad Company selected Spalding to design the company’s Yellowstone Park hotel. In 1900, after completing the hotel, the Spalding moved to Tacoma with his family to pursue his profession. He also established a Seattle office and prospects were so good that the following year he moved his family from Tacoma to the larger city. For the next ten years, from his Seattle office, Spalding designed buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest. Among the buildings designed by Spalding were the Hofius House (1902), Stimson Hotel (1905-06, destroyed) both in Seattle, and the Moran House (1906) (now Rosario Resort) on Orcas Island.
On December 23, 1903, Spalding procured a building permit to construct a 1 ½ story 37 x 38 foot residence at 416 West Comstock Street and Spalding listed himself as owner, architect and builder. The following day the Seattle Daily Bulletin made the following announcement "Architect A. W. Spalding has commenced work, preparatory to erecting his new home on the northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Comstock street. The building will be two stories high, with eight rooms, baths, furnace and the usual modern conveniences. A gable roof and small lights are features of the design. A house, now on the property, wil be incorporated and become part of the building. The total coast will be about $4,000."
By late spring or early summer the Spalding family including Albert, wife Anna, and their four children ages 10 to 16, plus a servant or two moved into the house. From the house it was an easy commute downtown with just a four block walk to Olympic Place to catch the Kinnear Park street car line downtown.
In July 1905, after residing there about a year, Spalding sold the house to Worrall Wilson. During the previous eight years Worrall Wilson (1874-1936) had received his Bachelors degree from Yale, served in the militia during the Spanish American War, received his law degree from Harvard, married in 1900, and practiced law in Colorado and Michigan. During the summer of 1905, he decided to travel west by train to look over prospects. When he arrived in Seattle, Wilson liked what he saw and purchased the residence from Spalding. In November 1905, he accompanied his wife Bessie (b. ca 1880) and newborn son from Michigan to their Queen Anne residence where they remained until 1917. He was a partner in a legal firm, president of both Washington Title Insurance Company and Dime and Dollar Savings & Loan Association. He was also active in promoting the construction of the Olympic Hotel and in establishing the Rainier National Park. When he died in 1936, per his request, his ashes were scattered over the national park.
Later occupant. Charles S. and Gertrude Wills lived in the house for at least 35 years, from the late 1919 through the mid 1950s. Charles Wills first worked as treasurer for Seattle Hardware in Pioneer Square before he joined Ernest Hardware serving as vice president and manager. In 1961 the house was vacant.
Variant address: 414 W Comstock (Baist, Real Estate Atlas of Seattle. 1908)
The 1975 Historic Seattle Survey of the Queen Anne neighborhod listed the house as Significant to the Community.
The residence appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the significance ot the architect Albert Walter Spalding, age of the structure (over 100 years old) and unique style.
Sources (see Reference below for complete citations):
"Building Permits December 23, 1903 … 24699" Seattle Daily Bulletin December 24, 1903 p. 3.
"Noted Citizen Taken by Death" Seattle Times February 25, 1936. Newspaper Index. Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library Downtown Branch.
"Wilson, Worrall" Allen, Who's Who in Washington State. p. 236.
"Worrall Wilson" Hanford, Seattle and Environs. Vol. 2 pp. 147-149.
"Spalding & Umbrecht" Oshsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture. p. 351.
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| Appearance |
| On December 23, 1903 the Seattle Building Department issued a permit (# 24699) to architect and contractor Albert W. Spalding to build a residence on Queen Anne Hill at the northeast corner of 5th Avenue West and Comstock Street. The following day the Seattle Daily Bulletin stated "The building will be two stories high, with eight rooms, baths, furnace and the usual modern conveniences."
The Daily Bulletin also stated that Spalding planned to incorporate a preexisting home on the property into the new residence. George R. and Mary E. Page had built a home on the property about 1890 and owned the house for ten years when they sold it. Albert Spalding acquired the property and by 1904 he completed the residence using Page's building. The Page house was a small portion of the new structure representing no more than 15% of the value of the Spalding/Wilson House.
In December 1906 a 10 x 9 feet one-story rear addition (north elevation) was built (permit # 40170) and in in 1910 a porch was added to this addition (permit # 88978). In 1919 architect W. R. B. Wilcox designed a remodel of the house (permit # 182767). He added a new foundation, added a second floor to the rear addition after enlarging it to 14 x 22 feet, and built a 12 x 6 foot sun porch by enclosing a portion of the front porch (south elevation) with glass. The numerous renovations created a mixture of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Craftsman styles that complement each other.
The residence has a two story 3-sided bay window that extends through the roof of the porch and terminates as a tower. The south elevation also has a shed roof dormer with multipaned casement windows. The porch shed roof is supported with fluted Doric columns. Three sided bay window on first floor of west elevation. Double hung windows with multipaned upper sash on east side elevation. Bracketed eaves. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Shingle |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gambrel |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Irregular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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Allen, Arthur H. (ed) Who's Who in Washington State. Seattle, Arthur H. Allen, Publisher, 1927.
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Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1904-1905) 4 volumes.
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Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1916-1919) volumes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6.
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Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1949-1950 update) 11 volumes.
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Seattle Daily Bulletin
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Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. “Queen Anne: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.” Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975.
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Hanford, Cornelius H. (ed.) Seattle and Environs, 1852-1924. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., 1924.
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"Spalding, A. Walter" Wolfe, Wellington. Sketches of Washingtonians. Seattle: Wellington C. Wolfe & Co., 1907. p. 283.
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