| Historic Name: |
COH Nurses' Quarters |
Common Name: |
American Cancer Society |
| Style: |
Colonial - Georgian Revival |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1923 |
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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 highly intact building was originally the nurses' home for Children’s Orthopedic Hospital. At that time most nurses were young single women, and hospitals customarily provided group housing for them. The initial nurses' home was the Fresh Air Cottage, the hospital's first structure, built in 1908. It was razed and this building constructed in 1923. It was purchased by King County following the hospital's move in 1952, and has been the home of the American Cancer Society since the 1980s. It is the most intact reminder of the early hospital, as the adjacent building has had extensive alterations.
Children's Orthopedic Hospital was founded in 1907 by the Women’s Hospital Association to provide medical care to children regardless of their ability to pay. They first opened a ward at Seattle General Hospital on First Hill, but in 1908 they opened the Fresh Air Cottage on this block. They selected Queen Anne because it was among the highest points in the city and thus was felt to have the healthiest air. A three-story, 27 bed hospital was built in 1911, designed by Somervell and Cote. A fourth floor added in 1921 expanded capacity to 78 beds. In 1923, a new nurses' home, designed by A. H. Albertson, replaced the Fresh Air Cottage. In 1928 the entire facility was re-designed by Albertson, with a new wing with glazed terra cotta tile and an arched entrance portico on Warren Avenue North. In 1947 the hospital became affiliated with the new University of Washington medical school, and all the pediatric functions moved to a new facility on Sand Point Way NE in 1953. The building was purchased by King County and served as a Health Department clinic. In 1968 the clinic closed and the building was used for county offices and the morgue until being turned into a retirement home, Queen Anne Manor.
The building was designed by one of city’s most prominent architects, A. H. Albertson (1872-1964). Albertson received his architectural training at Columbia University and came to Seattle in 1907 as the representative of Howells & Stokes, a New York firm preparing a development plan for the Metropolitan Tract in downtown Seattle. The firm of Howells and Albertson completed designs for several downtown buildings. He later worked with Joseph W. Wilson and Paul D. Richardson, a partnership that continued until 1939. Among Albertson’s best known works are the Northern Life (now Seattle) Tower (1927-29), the downtown YMCA (1929-31) and, on Capitol Hill, St. Joseph’s Church and Cornish School (1920-21). Other work on Queen Anne includes the Mrs. Grant Smith residence at 619 W. Comstock Street (a designated landmark) and St. Anne's Convent. In 1939 Albertson joined the state office of the Federal Housing Administration, retiring as its chief architect in 1949. He died in 1964.
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| Appearance |
| This rectangular building has a hipped roof and red brick cladding with stucco and tan-colored terra cotta accents. The cornice is of terra cotta in a leaf pattern with a twisted band below. A second terra cotta course runs between the second and third stories, with an egg-and-tongue pattern and a twisted band below. The entry is toward the north end of the west façade, with a flat-roofed concrete porch approached by several steps from the north side. The porch roof is supported by two groups of turned posts and thin square columns with capitols. The door itself is oak with leaded glass and is flanked by eight-light sidelights. Most windows are six-over-six double-hung sash; a group of four windows is just north of the entry on the first and second floors; most others are single. To the south of the entry is a three-sided bay on the first and second stories; it is clad with stucco and has three six-over-six windows on each floor. Between the windows are turned mullions, similar to the turned pieces at the entry. The rear (east) side has another entry porch with a shed roof supported by two pairs of square columns. The north elevation has a narrow drive and a garage door, now used as a secondary entry. Windows on the rear and end elevations are primarily six-over-six, with turned mullions on the first floor. The basement level is clad with stucco and also has six-over-six windows. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stucco |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Institutional Housing |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Brick |
No. of Stories: |
three |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Health/Medicine |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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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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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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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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Reinartz, Kay F. Queen Anne: Community on the Hill. Seattle: Queen Anne Historical Society, 1993.
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