| Historic Name: |
Davenport Hotel/ Hotel Union |
Common Name: |
Union Hotel Apartments |
| Style: |
Commercial, Italian - Italian Renaissance |
Neighborhood: |
Pioneer Square |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1905 |
| |
| Significance |
|
In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
|
|
Known first as the Davenport Hotel and then as the Hotel Union, the Union Hotel Apartments at 200-204 3rd Avenue South was designed by architects Elliot & West and constructed in 1905. Built at a time of economic and industrial development in the former “burnt district” and of explosive growth in Seattle as a whole, this building forms an ensemble with its two neighbors to the south, the “1904 Norton Building” at 206 3rd Avenue South and 208-210 3rd Avenue South. The building also stands out somewhat, because of its red brick exterior and the fact that it does not have the more standard recessed bays of the other two buildings, or follow the obvious Chicago School models. Charles N. Elliot and Thomas L. West are listed in the classified section of the Seattle Directory from 1901 to 1905. They were responsible for the Jacobethan Revival Carnegie Library in Fairhaven, Washington, from circa 1903. Other information about Elliot (spelled with one t) or West or about the work of their firm remains undocumented. Except for possible changes to the storefront, which are not easy to document, because of the profusion of awnings in a 1930s photo, the upper levels of the building exterior appear to be intact.
|
|
| |
| Appearance |
| 200-204 3rd Avenue South is four story building, with primary facades on 3rd Avenue South and on Washington Street and an elevation, which formerly faced an alley, on 4th Avenue South. The building has a concrete foundation and basement and a footprint of 60 feet by 120 feet. Its exterior walls are of brick, with a facing of red common red brick, while the interior structure is wood, post and beam construction. On 3rd Avenue South, the ground level consists of storefront, with transom lights in various configurations. A metal column, round in plan, emphasizes the 3rd Avenue South/Washington Street corner. Above the storefront transom level, cladding is red common brick and the façade is divided into three bays, each with a pair of trabeated window openings per floor. Windows are double-hung. There is a large projecting metal cornice toward the top. The thin band above the storefront and the cornice are currently painted a light green color, which contrasts with the red brick. The red brick parapet wall continues several feet above the projecting cornice. The longer Washington Street elevation is less symmetrical and regular, but consists mainly of trabeated openings similar to the Washington Street façade. On second, third and fourth floors, for instance, moving from east to west, the openings are set in the following pattern: a group of four separate windows, then a group of two, followed by a group of three separate windows, then a group of two separate windows. The 4th Avenue South elevation, meant originally as an alley elevation, has segmental arched openings in red brick. |
|
|
| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
NR, LR |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Metal |
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: |
four |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce |
| Integrity |
|
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
|
Storefront: |
Slight |
|
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
|
Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
|
| Major Bibliographic References |
|
Baist Map of 1905, 1908 and 1912
|
|
Potter, Elizabeth Walton. “Pioneer Square Historic District Expansion Amendment.” December 1976.
|
|
Union Hotel Associates, John Costello Partner. “Hotel Union, 200-204 Third Avenue South, Historic Preservation Certification Application, Part 1.” 24 July 1984.
|
|
|
