| Historic Name: |
Pauleze Apartments |
Common Name: |
Arkona Apartments |
| Style: |
Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1908 |
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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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This early apartment building has a substantial presence at the key corner of Queen Anne Avenue North and Denny Way, and was noted in the city-wide historic resources survey done in the 1970s. It is a relatively early large apartment block for the area, having been built in 1908. No information is available about the architect or first owner. From at least the 1930s until the 1970s it was called the Pauleze Apartments, after the owner, J. H. Paul. The name was changed to the Arkona in the 1970s.
Minor interior renovations, including a new stairway, were made in 1948, designed by the prominent architect Andrew Willatzen. Windows were changed in 1956, and appear to have been replaced again since that time. Additional changes were made in 1972 in response to the Ozark ordinance, requiring improvements in fire safety in apartment buildings. A small addition was constructed at the northwest corner for a new stair tower, and swimming pool was added in the basement in 1978. In 1962 the building was used for temporary housing for the Century 21 Exposition, a few blocks away at Seattle Center.
This is a good example of early apartment development, dating from 1908. It was during this decade that apartments mushroomed on Queen Anne, to accommodate the vast influx of new arrivals, many of whom were young singles. In the years following the 1897 Klondike gold rush the city grew dramatically, doubling doubling between 1890 and 1900 and nearly tripling again by 1910, to 237,194. Also in this period (1903-11) the western half of Denny Hill to the south was sluiced into Elliott Bay, opening up access to Queen Anne. The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition also attracted apartment development, as people anticipated the large number of visitors, many traveling some distance to stay for weeks or months.
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| Appearance |
| This substantial four-story 59-unit building is clad with dark clinker brick, with first floor and basement levels of stucco-clad concrete block. The most notable feature is the large recessed entry, with a cast stone arch heavily ornamented with a Sullivanesque floral pattern. The entry is clad with white ceramic tile and has marble steps and a newer glass-and-steel door. The building itself has four two-story hanging bays on both the east and south elevations. The brick parapet rises to a gable above each of these bays. The bays, clad with wood, have large fixed-pane windows flanked by one-over-one sash; other single windows are also one-over-one. All the windows have newer dark aluminum sash, with cast stone sills. The rear (west) side has glass block windows on the basement level. |
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