Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 1932 Federal AVE / Parcel ID 220750-0735 / Inv #

Historic Name: St. Barnabas Mission Common Name: Style: Arts & Crafts - Craftsman Neighborhood: Capitol Hill Built By: Year Built: 1919   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). This unusual building in a residential neighborhood was designed by Carl Gould and was used by St. Mark's Parish as St. Barnabas Chapel. It served those members who felt that their church, then located at Harvard Avenue and Spring Street, was too far away. In 1931 the new St. Mark's Cathedral opened nearby on 10th Avenue E., and this building was used for a period by St. Spiridon Russian Orthodox Church. However, in 1941 the new cathedral was closed because the diocese could not pay the mortgage, and the St. Mark's congregation once again met here until they could return to the cathedral in 1944. In 1946 the chapel was sold to the First Wesleyan Methodist Church. It has been used as a residence since 1953, and was occupied by James and Ellen Ruby and their design firm from the 1950s until the 1980s. The exterior is largely intact to its 1938 appearance; a 21 foot addition was made on the rear, probably in the 1950s. The 1984 interior renovation (by architect Jim Olson) retained the original structure, 27-foot wood-clad ceiling, carved brackets, cathedral windows and sense of space. The building once had opaque glass on the side elevations; it is not known if it was original; some of this on the south elevation has been replaced with clear or art glass to allow more light to enter. A description and photos can be found in the Seattle Times, Pacific Northwest magazine, October 8, 2006. Carl Gould (1873-1939) was one of Seattle’s most prominent architects, and one with a significant impact on Capitol Hill. Gould was born in New York and graduated from Harvard and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He immediately aligned with some of the most celebrated people in the profession, interning with McKim, Mead & White and working on Daniel Burnham’s plan for San Francisco. He moved to Seattle in 1908 and, as one of the best educated architects in the relatively young city, associated with Daniel Huntington in 1909. Together they designed numerous residences, apartments and mixed use buildings, and Gould independently designed additional houses and commercial buildings. In 1914 he became associated with Charles Bebb, a well-established local architect, and over the next twenty years the firm designed nearly three hundred projects including residences, schools, hospitals and commercial buildings. Perhaps their best known work is the campus plan for the University Washington (1915) and the design of eighteen campus buildings between 1915 and 1938, including Suzzallo Library, in the Collegiate Gothic style. In 1914 Gould founded the Department of Architecture and served as its head until 1926. In the late 1920s, Gould’s designs turned toward the Modern and Art Deco, and he produced two of his most important works, the U. S. Marine Hospital (now Amazon.com, 1930-32) and the Seattle Art Museum (now the Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1931-33).   Appearance This simple gable-front structure gains its ecclesiastical feeling from the multipaned arched window filling most of the gable end. Below the window is the entry, with two plain square columns supporting a narrow porch in front of the window. Balustrades are simple square posts. The entry is flanked by two narrow multipaned rectangular windows, running up to a belt course at bottom of the large arched window. Cladding below this belt course in wood shingle, with board and batten above. Windows on the side elevation are similar tall narrow sash. A one-story addition at the rear is not visible from the front.

Detail for 1932 Federal AVE / Parcel ID 220750-0735 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Shingle, Vertical - Board and Batten Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Religion - Religious facility Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Religion Integrity Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Changes to Plan: Slight Changes to Windows: Slight Major Bibliographic References Williams, Jacqueline B. The Hill with a Future: Seattle's Capitol Hill 1900-1946. Seattle: CPK Ink, 2001. Booth, T. William and William H. Wilson. Carl F. Gould, A Life in Architecture and The Arts. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995. Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994. King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.

Photo collection for 1932 Federal AVE / Parcel ID 220750-0735 / Inv #

Photo taken Oct 27, 2005