| Historic Name: |
St. Anne's Convent |
Common Name: |
St. Anne's Convent |
| Style: |
Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1930 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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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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St. Anne's parish was established in 1906 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nisqually. The first church was built in 1908, followed by a school in 1923, a parish hall and this convent in 1930. A new church replaced the original building in 1963. The school building has been significantly altered and has a large 2004 addition. The school, an important part of the Queen Anne community, was staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Names, who lived in this convent. The convent is still used by the sisters, although few of them now teach at the school.
The building was designed by one of the city’s most prominent architects, A. H. Albertson (1872-1964). Albertson received his architectural training at Columbia University and came to Seattle in 1907 as the representative of Howells & Stokes, a New York firm preparing a development plan for the Metropolitan Tract in downtown Seattle. The firm of Howells and Albertson completed designs for several downtown buildings. He later worked with Joseph W. Wilson and Paul D. Richardson, a partnership that continued until 1939. Among Albertson’s best known works are the Northern Life (now Seattle) Tower (1927-29), the downtown YMCA (1929-31) and, on Capitol Hill, St. Joseph’s Church and Cornish School (1920-21). Other work on Queen Anne includes the Mrs. Grant Smith residence at 619 W. Comstock Street (a designated Seattle landmark) and an addition to the former Children’s Orthopedic Hospital (now Queen Anne Manor). In 1939 Albertson joined the state office of the Federal Housing Administration, retiring as its chief architect in 1949. He died in 1964.
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| Appearance |
| This convent is a simplified Tudor Revival design, prominently sited on a corner, sitting above the street and surrounded by a lawn, extensive foundation shrubs and a low concrete retaining wall. Cladding is clinker brick with a flat red tile roof with no eaves. The side gable structure has a front gabled entry on the east elevation with a cast concrete surround. Above the entry is an oriel window with brackets and three leaded diamond-pane sash. A similar but larger bay window is just north of the entry with a copper roof and six diamond-paned leaded glass windows. Most windows throughout are 8-light casement sash, with some 21-over-21 windows on the rear. On the south elevation is a lower gabled wing with a large bracketed oriel bay window with four plain glass windows; these originally had diamond-pane glass similar to that near the entry. Below are five small Gothic arch windows with modern stained glass. A gabled wing at the north end has a secondary entry and arched diamond-paned windows in the gable end and on the west side. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick - Clinker |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Clay Tile |
| Building Type: |
Religion - Residence |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Religion |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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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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Reinartz, Kay F. Queen Anne: Community on the Hill. Seattle: Queen Anne Historical Society, 1993.
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