| Historic Name: |
Valencia Apartments |
Common Name: |
Valencia Apartments |
| Style: |
Spanish - Mediterranean |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
unknown |
Year Built: |
1909 |
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| Significance |
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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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This is a keystone building in the Wallingford commercial district. Its large massing lends presence to the major intersection of 45th and Wallingford Avenue, across form the former Interlake School (now Wallingford Center) and a long-time grocery store. It is also important for its early date; it was built in 1909, nearly twenty years earlier than most of the nearby commercial buildings. Few commercial buildings remain from this early period of Wallingford development, but two major public buildings in the immediate area do: the Wallingford Fire and Police (1912) and the Interlake School from 1904-1908. The other significant feature is the building's architectural detailing. The red-tiled bays, terra cotta ornamentation and stucco cladding combine to give it a Mediterranean Revival feel that is very unlike the typical Craftsman and vernacular buildings found in this neighborhood at this time. City records do not note the architect.
In the 1930s the buidling was known as the Valencia Apartments. In 1945 it was purchased by Jack and Marie Moss, and renamed the Marie Moss Apartments and, later, Moss Apartments. There have been numerous businesses on the first floor, notably straker's Hardware, which was there for more than forty years.
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| Appearance |
| This prominent building is nearly square (50x56 feet) and three stories high, giving it a massive appearance at its open corner site. Cladding is stucco, with two two-story semihexagonal bays on each of the two street elevations. The bays are roofed with red barrel tiles; the same red is found in large terra cotta medallions along the cornice and smaller ones between the second and third stories. The third floor windows now have aluminum sash, and the storefronts have been somewhat modernized with enlarged metal-frame display windows and newer doors. |
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