Seattle.gov Home Page
Link to Seattle Department of Neighborhoods home page

Seattle Historical Sites

New Search

Summary for 434 Yale AVE / Parcel ID 6847700005 / Inv #

Historic Name: Office and Warehouse for O. E. Turnquist Common Name: "Bubba Mavis Gallery" ( 2 other businesses)
Style: Modern Neighborhood: Cascade
Built By: Year Built: 1948
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local).
434 Yale Ave N. is a striking Moderne building, constructed in two phases. It was built in 1947 and 1948 for the O. E. Turnquist Construction Company. Its detailing is elegant. Aside from minor changes to the corner sign, which used to continue along the length of the Yale Avenue elevation, the building appears much as it did in historic photographs. The 1947 portion consists of the main part of the building which faces both Yale and Republican. It housed the O.E. Turnquist Construction Company’s shop. The 1948 portion, added seamlessly to the first portion and very shortly thereafter, consists of the back half of the building facing Republican Street. There are, incidentally, two Republican Street addresses: one at 1305, the other at 1311 Republican St. This portion of the building housed the company’s warehouse. The contractor for the entire structure was presumably O.E. Turnquist Construction Company. The architect for both phases was W.G. Brust, who began his own practice in Seattle in 1927 and was known mainly as a church designer in the 1930s and 1940s. He designed the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church (1929), Our Redeemer Lutheran Church (1946-47) and Hope Lutheran Church (1948). Before starting his own practice, W.G. Brust, a University of Pennsylvania graduate in architecture, worked first for E. F. Champney in the 1910s. He was then was in partnership with James Stephen and his son, Frederick Bennett Stephen, another University of Pennsylvania graduate, in the firm of Stephen, Stephen and Brust between 1920 and 1927. That firm was particularly well known for its school designs. He died in Seattle in 1969.
 
Appearance
This brick building, with strong Moderne tendencies, is basically rectangular in plan, with one of its major entrances placed at a forty five degree angle on the corner of Yale Avenue North and Republican Street. It has a flat roof with parapet. It is distinguished by the thin masonry bands along the parapet and below it, the thin masonry window sills, all of which emphasize its horizontality, as well as its industrial sash windows.

Detail for 434 Yale AVE / Parcel ID 6847700005 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status: INV
Cladding(s): Brick, Concrete - Block Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Other
Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Warehouse Plan: Irregular
Structural System: Concrete - Block No. of Stories: two
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce, Manufacturing/Industry
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Windows: Moderate
Major Bibliographic References
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.

Photo collection for 434 Yale AVE / Parcel ID 6847700005 / Inv #


Photo taken Sep 30, 2003
App v2.0.1.0