Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 925-931 11th AVE / Parcel ID 664190-0000 / Inv #

Historic Name: Highland Common Name: Highland Style: Tudor Neighborhood: Capitol Hill Built By: Year Built: 1924   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. 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 is a good example of the luxury apartment building that had begun to appear in Seattle by the early 1920s, serving people who had the money to live in either a house or a residential hotel, but who preferred the greater freedom and privacy of an apartment. As in more urban cities, these wealthier people wanted amenities they would expect in a house, such as spacious rooms, fireplaces, separate dining rooms and sunrooms and quarters for a maid. The Highland provided all of these, in a tranquil setting near Volunteer Park. The building is carefully designed to fit in with the surrounding large homes. The architects, B. Dudley Stuart and Arthur Wheatley, were responsible for several of the most prominent apartment buildings of this era, including the Bergonian (now the Mayflower Hotel), Exeter House, Marlborough Apartments and Biltmore Apartments. Their practice also included residences and a number of fraternity and sorority houses. Stuart (1885-1977) was born in London and came to Seattle from Vancouver in 1918. He worked in partnership with Arthur Wheatley from 1925-1939, the heyday of Seattle apartment development. He later worked with Robert L. Durham, until retiring at the age of 86. The original owner or developer was W. C. Malany, about which nothing is known. It was later owned by Henry Schuett, manager of the Seattle Seed Company, a supplier of seeds and poultry supplies located on Western Avenue. A few years later, in 1925, the building was purchased a widow, Anna J. Clebanck, whose son was the manager. This is one of a cluster of luxury apartment buildings that were built in Seattle in the first quarter of the 20th century. Nearby on 11th Avenue East are the Park Court, the Washington Arms and the Fairmont . They are located near in a tranquil setting near the southwest corner of Volunteer Park where they could take advantage of the amenities of Seattle’s finest park, which had been designed by the Olmsted Brothers in 1909 and was largely completed within a few years. The location is also convenient to shopping on Broadway and the streetcar lines to downtown. These building were designed to fit in with surrounding large single family homes. These apartments served people who had the money to live in either a house or a residential hotel, but who preferred the greater freedom and privacy of an apartment. As in more urban cities, these wealthier people wanted amenities they would expect in a house, such as spacious rooms, fireplaces, separate dining rooms and sunrooms and quarters for a maid. The Washington Arms has fifteen units (now condominiums), averaging 1200 square feet, unusually large for Seattle. Te 1937 assessor records indicate 15 five-room apartments with 14 sleeping rooms with baths in the basement. These were most likely to accommodate servants. Other original features were oak floors, terrazzo kitchen floors, house phones and dumb waiters.   Appearance This building is similar in form to the Park Court, built two years earlier just to the south. It is E-shaped in plan, with three projecting bays one room wide. Cladding is red brick with extensive cast stone ornamentation, generally with Tudor-inspired motifs. Each of the projecting bays has cast stone at the corners and belt courses between each floor. The first floor is of painted cast stone, with an elegant cast stone surround at the entry. Windows in the sunroom bays are 12-light casements, with six-over-one leaded sash elsewhere. There is a secondary entry with an awning on the south elevation, garages at the rear, and fire escapes on the side elevations.

Detail for 925-931 11th AVE / Parcel ID 664190-0000 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Unknown Building Type: Domestic - Multiple Family Plan: E-Shaped Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: four Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development Integrity Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: Intact Major Bibliographic References 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. City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.

Photo collection for 925-931 11th AVE / Parcel ID 664190-0000 / Inv #

Photo taken Mar 06, 2006