Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 417 2nd Avenue Extension / Parcel ID 5247800595 / Inv #

Historic Name: 417 Second Avenue Extension Common Name: 417 Second Avenue Extension Style: Commercial, Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque Neighborhood: Pioneer Square Built By: Year Built: 1891   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). This building dates from 1898, according to the King County Assessor’s Records. Other sources give a date of 1891. The building is more typical of those erected in the Pioneer Square-Skid Road National Historic District right after the Great Fire of 1889, in the early 1890s to mid 1890s. This is suggested by the Victorian gridding of the façade and the brick decorative elements. The building had lost two additional floors by the 1930s. While the architect is not known, there is evidence that the site of the building originally belonged to Henry Yesler, who sold it to H. K. Owens in return for the Metropole Building site immediately to the north. Therefore, H. K. Owens appears to be the person who commissioned this building. By the 1970s, its façade was covered over, but it has since been revealed. With the Metropole Building, (dated from 1892-93 by Jeffrey Ochsner and Dennis Andersen), to the north, it forms an interesting ensemble of Victorian/ Richardsonian Romanesque inspired buildings, although its scale is somewhat smaller than that of the Metropole. The wide open first floor may well have been also divided into two bays originally (obviously elements have been cut away at this level), but historic photos show that there has been one wide opening, at least since the 1930s.   Appearance This is a two story building with exterior brick walls. It has one primary street facing elevation on Second Avenue South. The brick on this elevation is currently painted. The façade has one wide and high trabeated opening, with storefront. Above, on the second level are two bays, framed by brick piers. Each bay has two trabeated window openings, each with one double-hung window with transom lights. All ornamentation and detailing is in brick. Distinctive are the ornamental rectangles in the spandrels above each second floor bay. These are filled with a textured pattern of what appear to be small pyramidal shapes. Similar banding occurs at the level between the top of the second floor windows and the transom, on the surface of the piers. The building was originally four stories in height and had lost the two upper floors by the 1930s.

Detail for 417 2nd Avenue Extension / Parcel ID 5247800595 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: NR, LR Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured, Stone Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition, Unknown Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Warehouse Plan: Irregular Structural System: Masonry - Unreinforced No. of Stories: two Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce Integrity Storefront: Extensive Changes to Windows: Slight Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Changes to Plan: Intact Major Bibliographic References Lange, Greg and Tim O’Brian, “Virtual Pioneer Square,” unpublished manuscript, 27 October 1996. King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972. Brians, Ann Elizabeth. Indomitable Pioneer Square. Master of Urban Planning Thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, 1973.

Photo collection for 417 2nd Avenue Extension / Parcel ID 5247800595 / Inv #

Photo taken Jun 09, 2004