| Historic Name: |
Martin Block /Lewiston Hotel |
Common Name: |
Lewiston Hotel |
| Style: |
Commercial |
Neighborhood: |
Downtown Urban Center |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1911 |
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| Significance |
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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 building was constructed for Martin Paup according to drawings produced in August 1910 by George Dietrich, described as an engineer and contractor on original drawings. Known as the Martin Block, but also referred to by the name of the hotel it housed on its upper floors - the Hotel Lewiston - it was erected between 1910 and 1911. According to historian Paul Dorpat, Martin Paup, who was born in 1846, had a very difficult childhood. As a child, he was abused by a farmer to whom his parents had indentured him. To escape this situation, Paup served as a child cavalryman on the Union side during the Civil War. After the Civil War, he moved west and became and engineer for the Port Blakely Mill Company, where he worked for many years. He bought the site of this building in the 1880s and, around 1895, first built a wooden clapboard-sided commercial building. This building included a tavern, a general store and a bakery on the ground level, as well as a hotel rooms on its second floor. In 1895, Martin Paup and his family also moved to a residence one block west of this commercial property.
The present commercial building, designed by Dietrich, repeated many of the uses of the original wooden building. The early drawings indicate that, on the First Avenue elevation, the north section of what is now the Queen City Grill storefront included a cigar stand and that the entry and part of the storefront to what is marked as a “saloon” on the drawings was slightly recessed back from the main façade. Based on listing in Polk’s Seattle Directories, at least by the late 1910s, the hotel advertised its modern amenities, such as “modern steam heat, hot and cold water in every room. Free baths.” Paul Dorpat also states that, according to the original owner’s grandson, the saloon, originally known as the Queen City Tavern, was considered, the “longest continuously operating union bar” in Seattle.
The “saloon” closed for a time, but in 1987, was revived, this time as the Queen City Grill, which is still very much in operation today. The property remained in the possession of the Paup family for many years. In 1980, the original Martin Paup’s grandson, also named Martin Paup, still owned the property and restored the Lewiston Hotel as low income housing. As of the late 1980s, the Plymouth Housing Group was managing the property. In 1992, the basement level portion of the Blanchard Street elevation was modified for Belltown Billiards to include a new storefront in metal and sheet metal, but even here two original cast iron columns and brickwork were retained. In 2000, the architecture firm, SMR, (formerly Stickney Murphy Romine), further restored the building for the Plymouth Housing Group. According to these drawings, few major exterior changes were made.
The building has retained the most important elements of the main façade storefront, which has been sympathetically restored, where new. The façade also appears to be virtually intact above the ground level. Although the basement level facing Blanchard was modified for “Belltown Billiards,” even here original elements, including the cast iron columns, were retained as part of the design. Aside from these changes, the rest and largest portion of the Blanchard Street elevation appears to be intact, if not sympathetically restored. The building has retained its architectural integrity and significance and appears to be surprisingly intact.
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| Appearance |
| This is a three story building with a basement, sited on the northwest corner of First Avenue and Blanchard Street. The First Avenue façade includes storefront at the ground level and two additional floors, which originally housed the Lewiston Hotel. Adjoining this building to the north is the Hotel Scargo. Other similar hotels in the vicinity and from the same period are the former Hotel Grace/Utah Hotel, (now the Apex Coop) and the Oregon Hotel, (now part of the Oregon Apartments), both located to the north. Like these buildings, the Martin Block/ Hotel Lewiston has a rectangular footprint of 60 feet x 111 feet. It also has a flat roof and parapet. The original building structure includes 13” thick exterior brick walls and an interior heavy timber, post and beam structure. The building has a main façade, set along First Avenue, as well a longer secondary elevation facing Blanchard Street. There is a significant level change from east to west, which is expressed in the Blanchard Street elevation: as is typical of many of the buildings mentioned, the basement level is revealed and increases in height toward the west.
In general, the exterior brick cladding consists of alternating header bricks, which have a grayish cast and red soldier bricks. On the main First Avenue façade, a projecting classical cornice surmounts a series of very slightly inset rectangles, clad in heavy aggregate cast stone. The series of rectangles are framed by continuous soldier courses in the horizontal direction and by vertical rows of header bricks, which line up visually with the edges of the windows below at the third and second levels. At these levels, the façade is divided into five bays, each with a double-hung window. Further emphasizing the third and second floor bays, above each window bay, in each of the framed rectangles are ornamental circles in brick, which are embedded in the course aggregate. Below these ornamental elements, window openings at both levels have light-colored terra cotta sills. At the second floor level, a notable feature is the shallow cornice, also light colored, which typically surmounts each window opening. In addition, underneath each cornice is a delicate molding, which includes an egg-and-dart pattern.
The ground floor storefront level is also topped by a projecting metal cornice with many modillions. The most notable features of the storefront level are the original cast iron piers, which divide the main façade this time, into three bays. The piers themselves are very distinctive: each pier includes a modified Doric base and capital, with an outer circle, set at the mid-level of the pier shaft, as well a stylized, symmetrical rosette, set within an inner circle. In addition, each capital features a central vertical bar, flanked by a fleur-de-lis ornament to each side. Storefronts, although probably partially reconstructed over the years, feature continuous transom lites above the lower portion of the storefront.
The longer Blanchard Street elevation has ten bays at the second and third levels. From the top of the building and including the second floor, the detailing and design of architectural features is very similar or identical to those on the main façade. Below the second level, however, aside from the south elevation of the storefront, which figures on the east side of the elevation, there are nine window openings, with distinctive light colored trim. Of the nine openings, the six openings located to the east of the elevation are longer; however, all the openings are topped by segmental arches, with a light colored cast stone frame over the arch and exaggerated ornamental keystones. In addition, there is a repeated and distinctive geometric shape in light colored cast stone, which includes a horizontal band, inset into the brick cladding between the openings, at the level of the springline of the arches. In addition, each window has an operable, multi-pane transom window below the segmental arch.
Because of the change in grade from east to west, the Blanchard St elevation becomes deeper to the west. A header course runs from below the step of the storefront, located on the east side of the elevation and becomes part of the brickwork covering the entry to the basement level entrance. According to original drawings, the main sidewalk has always acted as a ramp, which sloped down, from east to west, from a higher grade level to a lower basement level. Originally, there was a pipe railing that kept passersbys from falling into the lower level. The two openings to the west of the storefront were also individually “boxed in” with railing for a similar reason. This lower, recessed portion of the elevation has clearly since been modernized and includes a large opening with new metal multi-pane storefront, which is also partially clad in new sheet metal; outside, set on the street, is a large curved wire mesh element, which calls attention to the space and replaces the more utilitarian railing. There is also a clock, which is hung as a blade sign from the lower part of the wall. Among these new elements, two original cast-iron columns, circular in plan and with detailing similar to the piers of the main façade, also remain as supports for the overhang above the recessed storefront. Since most of the major changes to this portion of the elevation tend to be recessed, they are actually fairly unobtrusive.
Overall, the building exterior is surprisingly intact and has kept the most important elements of its original design. |
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