| Historic Name: |
Buckingham Apartments |
Common Name: |
Shannon Apartments |
| Style: |
Vernacular, Tudor - Elizabethan |
Neighborhood: |
First Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1905 |
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| Significance |
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The Shannon, originally known as the Buckingham, is one of the oldest apartment buildings in the city, dating from 1905. Its size and style reflect the elegant mansions that surrounded it at the time it was constructed. In the 1880s-90s, First Hill, with views and proximity to downtown, developed as the premier residential neighborhood, with the city's finest mansions. However, the first decades of the 20th century brought significant population growth in the wake of the 1897 Klondike gold rush; 25,000 new residents arrived in the city in just the first three years of the century. Apartments flourished from about 1906 until World War I, when economic difficulties slowed development until the mid-1920s.
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| Appearance |
| The Shannon is rectangular in plan, sitting on a triangular lot at the intersection of Union, University and Boylston streets. It is 2-1/2 stories, of wood frame construction with brick veneer, now painted tan. The foundation level is rusticated block, also painted tan; the same material is used for window sills, lintels and quoins. The building has a tall side gabled roof with stepped parapets in the Late Medieval style. The main entry in the center of the main elevation is arched and deeply recessed, surrounded with stone voussoirs. The center of the main façade has a prominent parapeted gable dormer, extending to the ridgeline. The rear elevation curves to match the curve of the street. This elevation has a large parapeted gable dormers similar to that on the front and a smaller one. The large dormers have four windows with a small one in the gable end. The main façade has large aluminum-frame windows, with smaller single windows on the side elevations. |
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