| Historic Name: |
Stilwell, Samuel and Irene, House |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Italian - Italian Renaissance |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1910 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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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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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This elegant house was constructed in 1910 for S. J. Stilwell, at the substantial cost of $10,000. Shortly afterwards it was featured in the book "Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast, 1913." The article noted its resemblance to an Italian villa, with the long pergola across the front. Samuel J. Stillwell was a general contractor who, in 1910, worked in partnership with Grant Smith, a prominent contractor. He later formed his own company, Stillwell Brothers. His wife Irene, who was vice-president of the firm, remained in this house after his death, until 1924. It was then purchased by S. Maimon Samuels, a physician, and his wife Sophia and, in 1963, by J. H. Davis.
The architect, A. Warren Gould, was one of Seattle's most prolific architects in the early 20th century. A native of Nova Scotia, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked as a contractor in Boston before turning to architecture. He came to Seattle in 1903, with considerable experience in the design and construction of large buildings, as well as a personable manner. His major extant buildings are the King County Courthouse (1914-17) and the Arctic building (1913-1917), done with George Lawton. The Stilwell house was designed during his partnership with Edouard Champney, which lasted until 1912. It is similar in form to his later design, the Albert Rhodes house, built on Capitol Hill in 1915; that house was one of the few in the city clad with terra cotta. Gould was also active in city planning, and proposed a civic center in downtown Seattle, a precursor to the Bogue Plan of 1911.
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| Appearance |
| This Italian Renaissance-style house sits above the street with a rockery, a sizeable garden and a large beech tree at the corner. The house has tan-colored brick cladding and a tall hipped roof with red clay tile and wide eaves with curved brackets. The foundation is random-laid stone. The house's most notable feature is the pergola, or verandah, which extends across the entire front of the building, partway down the east side, and across the driveway on the west. Its tile roof is supported by massive square brick piers; the roof has large Italianate brackets matching those on the house. The entry has large sidelights of elaborately patterned leaded glass. The main façade is symmetrical, with a brick chimney at each side and a center entrance flanked by two large double-hung windows; three similar windows on the second floor and on the other elevations. The brick garage has a hipped roof and is generally similar to the house in appearance. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick - Flemish Bond |
Foundation(s): |
Stone |
| Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Clay Tile |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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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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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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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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Calvert, Frank. Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast. Vol. 1, Seattle. Beaux Arts Village: Beaux Arts Society Publishers, 1913.
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