Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 915 E PINE ST E / Parcel ID 600350-0460 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: IOOF Temple Common Name: Odd Fellows Hall Style: Beaux Arts - Neoclassical Neighborhood: Pike/Pine Built By: Year Built: 1909   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. This building has been determined eligible for the National Register under Criteria A and C.  It is a very well preserved property with historic and architectural significance for its association with the Oddfellows, the development of Capitol Hill and the architect Carl Breitung. This building has been a fixture of Capitol Hill for more than 100 years.  It contains a collection of meeting rooms, offices, apartments and retail spaces. It is now occupied by a variety of restaurants, arts organizations and a popular ball room.  The Odd Fellows established a presence in Seattle with the 1870 founding of the Olive Branch Lodge No. 4.  Seattle Lodge No. 7 followed six years later.  Both were charter members of the Grand Lodge of Washington, instituted in November 1878.  The Seattle Lodge began meeting in the Masonic St. John's Lodge on First Avenue and later got its own hall, a frame building in Belltown,  In 1890 they replaced that building with a three-story brick building, also in Belltown; this new facility was shared by several lodges.  By 1908 the combined lodges had raised enough money to build this larger temple, at a cost of $100,000.      The architect Carl Breitung was born near Munich, Germany, in 1868.  He studied architecture in Munich and Rome before coming to the United States in the 1880s.  He worked on the East Coast and in Kansas City before opening an architectural practice in Seattle in 1900.  In 1905 he formed a partnership with Austrian-born Theobald Buchinger.  In only two years the partnership produced several projects, including several Catholic church buildings.  After the partnerships dissolution in 1907, Breitung finished the firm's remaining large commissions and continued to practice in Seattle until moving to San Antonio in 1922.  The brick and terra cotta facade of the Odd fellows temple resemble the School of the Good Shepherd and the Academy of the Holy Names, both done with Buchinger.     Appearance This large building has a prominent site at the corner of E. Pine Street and 10th Avenue across from Cal Anderson Park.  It is an unusual design, featuring both Classical and Baroque elements.  The primary north elevation has a three-part facade composition with a slightly projecting center entrance bay set off with brick quoins.  Brick quoins also line the principal corners of the building.  This center bay has elaborate detailing and ornamentation.  A series of three arched openings trimmed with terra cotta line the first story, one of which contains an entrance to the upper floors.  At the second and third stories, the windows are set in two-story arches separated by two-story brick pilasters with terra cotta Composite capitals.    The pilasters support a prominent bracketed intermediate cornice which contains the building's name in the frieze, and continue as brick piers at the fourth story.  A large broken pediment embellished with the Odd Fellows' shield caps the entrance bay above the fourth story.  A stringcourse above the first story and cornices above the third and fourth stories divide the building horizontally.  A raised brick parapet encircles the flat roof of the building.  The flat-headed windows of the second and fourth stories and the segmental ached windows of the third story all retain the original double-hung wood  sash.  An additional entrance is recessed in an arch on the east elevation.  With  the exception of some minor alterations in the storefronts, the building is intact with very good physical integrity.

Detail for 915 E PINE ST E / Parcel ID 600350-0460 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Hold Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick, Terra cotta Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Unknown Building Type: Social - Clubhouse Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Masonry - Unreinforced No. of Stories: four Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce, Education, Social Movements & Organizations Integrity Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Windows: Intact Storefront: Slight Major Bibliographic References Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994. Sound Transit, Historic and Archaeological Report, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 1998.

Photo collection for 915 E PINE ST E / Parcel ID 600350-0460 / Inv # 0

Photo taken Jul 11, 2010