| Historic Name: |
Hotel Vendome -Post Edwards Building/ New Hotel Vendome |
Common Name: |
Sultan Hotel -The Lusty Lady/ Tolias Building |
| Style: |
Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque |
Neighborhood: |
Downtown Urban Center |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1890 |
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| Significance |
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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 building appears on an 1893 Sanborn Map of Seattle and is also shown on subsequent Baist Maps from 1905, 1908 and 1912. The entire building, including a northern portion that was demolished in 1966, is identified on the 1893 map and on the 1912 map as the “Hotel Vendome/ Post Edwards Building.” It is typical of buildings, erected right after the Great Fire of 1889, particularly in its use of brick corbelling as ornament. There was originally a central bay, with a raised parapet, but the general detailing of the building is the same as the extant portion. In fact, Jeffrey Karl Ochsner and Dennis Andersen identify the “Post-Edwards Block” as having been designed by W. E. Boone and completed in 1890.
While many of the hotels on First Avenue catered to single men and a clientele of modest means, this hotel apparently sought more well heeled and respectable visitors. By 1919, the New Vendome Hotel was listed in the 1919 Polk’s Seattle Directory, with a special request, “Commercial and Family Patronage Specially Solicited.”
An undated drawing by Henry Bittman “Architect and Engineer,” shows what appears to be an extensive interior remodel to the “Hotel Vendome.” Bittman’s drawings represent the larger floor plan, including the portion that was later demolished. Henry Bittman, who had been described as an engineer since the late 1900s, became licensed as an architect in 1923. These drawings should date at least from after 1923 (he did not sign himself “Architect and Engineer” until 1923). Subsequent alterations to the “New Vendome Hotel” were made in the mid-1940s by architect Galen W. Bentley. In this case, the “New Hotel Vendome” appears to be the second and third floors of the south portion of the building. The 1966 demolition of the north portion of the building, identified as the “Vendome Building,” was based on drawings by “H. P. Blean, Architect and Engineer.”
By 1980, the First Avenue Service Center was located on the “first floor,” in fact, the first and highest basement level. The Seven Seas Tavern and Sultan’s Cinema shared the ground level off of First Avenue. Based on drawings from 1982 and 1983, the Plymouth Housing Group restored the upper floors of what was then known as the “Seven Seas Hotel.” By 1985, there was a Seven Seas Amusement Arcade, as well as a Seven Seas Cinema, both of which presumably turned into the “Lusty Lady.” The present “Lusty Lady” marquee appears to date from 1992. Over the years, the building, particularly its “basement levels” have provided space for other organizations, as well. In the early 1950s, the second basement level housed a union hall, while the first basement housed a revolver club, which, not surprisingly, included a shooting gallery. As early as 1935, however, a permit was obtained for the construction of a pistol range in this building.
While the building has lost some integrity because a large portion of it has been demolished, it remains one of the last vestiges of early 1890s architecture on First Avenue, in downtown Seattle. It is also a good example of the early hotels that dotted First Avenue by the 1910s. It is also the last remnant of the older buildings that filled this particular block even in the 1990s. The adjoining Erickson Building, formerly located to the south of this building, was demolished in the late 1990s to allow the construction of the Harbor Properties Condominium.
Finally, the workmanship and detailing of the remaining masonry façade are excellent examples of early Seattle architecture and as such, the building is also significant. The building was designed by William E. Boone, an early and notable Seattle architect. W.E. Boone was born in Pennsylvania in 1830, and described in his 1921 obituary in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, as a direct descendant of Daniel Boone. His architectural career is some interest, because he is one of the few architects to practice in Seattle before and after the Great Fire of 1889. After the Fire, he mainly practiced in a variety of partnerships with other architects. Some of the best examples of his work remain in the Pioneer Square-Skid Road National Historic District. These include the pre-fire and now destroyed Yesler-Leary Building, which stood at the intersection of Yesler Avenue and First Avenue, the Merchant’s Café Building (the former Sanderson Block) and the Seattle Quilt Building (former Walker Block) at 316-318 First Avenue S., between Main and Jackson Streets. In partnership with William H. Willcox, he designed the original four floors of the J.M. Frink Building (or Washington Iron Works Building), now known as the Washington Shoe Building (1891-1892), at the southeast corner of Occidental Avenue South and Jackson Street. The remaing façade of the former Hotel Vendome/ Post Edwards Building bears a resemblance to the former Sanderson Block, now the Merchant’s Café, which was also completed in 1890.
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| Appearance |
| This building is sited mid-block on the west side of First Avenue between Union and University Streets. It is a three story building, which also includes three levels of basement. The present building footprint is 40 feet by 110 feet, with the short dimension facing First Avenue. As originally designed, the building was originally slightly more than twice its present width and extended north along First Avenue. The north portion of the building was mostly demolished by 1966. The remaining building has a flat roof and parapet. The original structure includes solid brick exterior walls, as well as a wood post and beam interior.
The main façade is set along First Avenue. It is distinguished by a high storefront level, which has been modernized, with two upper levels of brick clad façade. This portion of the façade is distinguished by fine, original masonry detailing. The main part of the façade, located above the high ground level, consists of one large bay marked to each side by continuous engaged piers. The larger bay is further subdivided into three, slightly recessed bays. At each floor, a central bay, consisting of three, elongated trabeated window openings is flanked to each side by a bay, consisting of a single window. Rusticated stone marks the lintels and the sill levels. Corbelling tops each of the bays. All three bays are then surmounted by several varieties of corbel bands. This, in turn, is topped by a band of small, recessed rectangular openings, surmounted by a continuous molding. The parapet above is divided into three sections, corresponding to the bays below. Each section includes an indented rectangular shape, ornamented at its perimeter by small, rectangular masonry elements. To the north of this larger main three-part bay, is the remnant of a similar larger bay. It repeats most the elements of one of the side bays, seen within the larger main bay already described. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
INV |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stone - Ashlar/cut, Stone - Cast |
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: |
three |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development, Social Movements & Organizations |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
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Changes to Plan: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Windows: |
Moderate |
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Storefront: |
Moderate |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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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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Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl and Dennis Alan Andersen. Distant Corner: Seattle Architects and the Legacy of H. H. Richardson. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2003.
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