Seattle Historical Sites

Based on original drawings from August 1918 and Tax Assessor records, the building was apparently designed as a machine shop for G. Pearson. Although there have been changes to the fenestration at the ground level, the building is an excellent example of the kind of light industrial, heavy timber structure erected in the industrial area of Seattle and along the central waterfront, particularly during the 1900s to 1910s.

Based on the photo on the King County Tax Assessor’s Record Card, by1936, the building’s main façade, as well as its Lander St facade indicated in large letters that the building housed the “D. A. JOHNSON HARDWOOD COMPANY.” On the main façade, letters underneath this sign also described what the company purveyed: “SPRUCE CEDAR & BOARD LUMBER.” Another painted sign, set at the top of the eave of the main façade, advertised: “No. 4 FLOORING.”  In comparison to similar buildings of the period, such as 1950 1^st Avenue South, near Walker St, the building elevations acted less like a billboard, although the signage was not modest.

By the late 1940s, the building apparently housed the Sears Farm Store, as well as its mail order department for a time. The building was then bought by Earl W. Morrison in July of 1954, but was sold again in July of 1956 to Sam D. Funes. At that time, Peterson and Adams, Architects remodeled the building for Funes Furniture. Structural repair was done and a second floor added on the building interior in 1957. There were repairs to the foundation in 1970, when Funes & Oziel Furniture was still occupying the building. Two additional interior stairways were also added in 1973. By 1980 and at least through the end of the 1980s, Corner of Bargains Furniture occupied the building.

This imposing heavy timber post and beam structure is located at 2462 1^st Avenue South, on the northeast corner of First Avenue S and Lander Street. The back, east elevation is also visible along Occidental Avenue South. In plan, the building is rectangular, 60’ by 100,’ with the shorter dimension facing First Avenue South and Occidental Avenue. The building has an original heavy timber interior structure, including repeated Howe trusses, with knee braces attached to lateral walls that define the top portion of the central space. On the interior, a north-south cross-section would show the central space topped by the repeated trusses, with the lower flanking spaces, defined by slanted rafters, to each side. The interior structure is reflected in the shape of the roof and the building as a whole.

From the exterior, the building has a monitor roof, with clerestory windows. This central portion of the building rises above two flanking wings. The composition of the main façade along First Avenue South is also slightly asymmetrical: the southern wing of the building is wider than the shorter northern wing. Based on an historical drawing from 1918, this has long been the case. A separate structure, whose façade has since been reclad in metal, sits north of 2462 1^st Avenue South, alongside the building’s shorter wing. It appears to have been added a few years after the original building was constructed and has lost its integrity. (It is also considered part of another parcel).

Although fenestration and siding have been replaced, particularly at the ground level, the building has retained its most important architectural features, including its distinctive shape, most of its original drop siding and roofing. The original façade, which has been altered, originally featured a large central opening with a sliding timber door, with, to the south of it, a bank of three, tall multi-pane windows, and to the north two lower doorways. These features have been replaced by a more conventional central doorway opening, flanked by two wide windows, with fixed panes to each side. Similar changes were made to the ground level along the longer Lander St elevation. Originally, there were six bays, with each window bay, divided into three, vertical, multi-pane windows. Each of these window bays has been replaced by a pair of wide windows, similar to the replacement windows on the main façade.

As one moves up both the First Avenue South and Lander Street elevations, there are more and more vestiges of the original multi-pane fenestration. The clerestory level on both the main façade and the Lander St façade retains the original multi-pane fenestration.