Seattle Historical Sites

This intact Beaux Arts-style apartment building was constructed for $250,000 in 1924 in the Uptown neighborhood and was originally known as the G.S. Hamman building. The building’s interior featured plastered walls, fir trim, and oak floors with some terrazzo flooring. The building underwent a thorough renovation and modernization in 1936 at an estimated cost of $65,000; by that time it was known as Chandler Hall. Drawings for the building’s modernization, dated 1936 and available through the DCI Microfilm Library, identify the renovation architect as B. Dudley Stuart. Upon completion of the renovation, the building featured 75 apartment units, 67 of which were two-room apartments and eight of which were three-room units. White & Bollard, Inc. owned and managed the apartment building. The renovation provided new carpet and lighting in the corridors, kitchen and bathroom updates in the apartment units, and a new communal laundry room. One third of the building’s units were furnished and the renovation also updated and modernized those furnishings. Gladwyn Morrision, the daughter of architect B. Dudley Stuart, was the decorator for White & Bollard, Inc. and was responsible for the interior redecorating, including modernizing the furnishings.

Bertram Dudley Stuart (1885–1977) was born in London, England, and practiced architecture in Edmonton, Alberta, and then Vancouver, British Columbia, before moving to Seattle in 1915. He married Edith May Hatton of Seattle ca. 1910; their engagement announcement ran in the Seattle Times in summer 1909. While in Vancouver, B.C., Stuart practiced with Howard E. White (Stuart & White, 1912–13) and then partnered with Arthur Wheatley as Stuart & Wheatley between 1923 and 1930. Stuart & Wheatley designed Biltmore Apartments (1923–24), Highland Apartments (1924), Bergonian Hotel (1926), Sterling Court Apartments (1926), Exeter House Apartments (1927), and Marianne Apartments (1929), all in Seattle. Stuart then partnered with Holmes and Lister Jones, as Stuart, Holmes & Jones (1940–42), then Paul Hayden Kirk and Robert Lewis Durham as Stuart, Kirk & Durham (1942–45). Kirk branched off on his own and the partners reformed as Stuart & Durham (1945–54), designing the Queen Anne Vista Apartments (1949). Stuart started his own practice after 1954 and designed the Washington Mutual Savings Bank in Federal Way (1968–69), then retired at the age of 86 as a result of failing eyesight. He passed away in 1977, survived by his wife Edith, son, B. Dudley Stuart, Jr., and daughter, Gladwyn (Stuart) Morrison.

Constructed in 1924, this unreinforced masonry apartment building, is located at the southeast corner of W Roy Street and Second Avenue W. The building was constructed as an apartment building and originally featured a one-story masonry garage building to the south. The building, a typical brick apartment building, features elements of the Beaux Arts style and has a flat roof with parapet. The four-story building stands on a concrete foundation with a parged finish and has a U-shaped plan. The building’s north (main) and south elevations measure approximately 128 feet wide and its east and west elevations measure approximately 92 feet wide. The building is clad in brick laid in the common bond; the main entrance is centered on the north facade and is highlighted by a cast stone header with “Chandler Hall” etched into the stone. The entrance has a wood front door with sidelights and a tile base with steps leading up to the entry. The building’s windows consist of 1:1 wood sash; the windows are present as individual sash or as pairs divided by wood mullions. Some of the windows are protected by aluminum storm windows. Parged concrete window hoods and lug sills highlight the windows. A prominent cornice highlights the main façade and three brick pediments rise above the cornice. The rear (south) elevation features two open air stairwells, forming the legs of the U.

The building retains excellent integrity and is a good representative of a brick apartment building with Beaux Arts details.

City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.

King County Property Record Card (c. 1938–1972), Washington State Archives.

Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890–1996.

Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed., Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Guide to the Architects (Seattle, University of Washington Press: 2014), 2nd edition.