| Historic Name: |
Adelaide Apartments |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Beaux Arts - Neoclassical |
Neighborhood: |
University |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1919 |
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| Significance |
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This four-story mixed use building is prominently located at the corner of University Way and NE 47th. It was built in 1919, t the beginning of the district's commercial heyday. The University Heights Addition was a very rural area when it was platted in 1899, although the University of Washington had moved to its nearby campus in 1895. The commercial hub moved to the corner of NE 45th Street and University Way NE about the time of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. During the 1920s, stores and services of all types appeared to serve the nearby residential neighborhoods like Unviersity Park, the numerous apartment buildings and the students themselves.
This was one of three nearby apartment buildings owned by the Malloy family. One of the first occupants was the Paysee Store, which was the first store in the area, established in 1889 on the shore of Lake Union. It moved here as the Paysee Hardware Company in 1920; in 1928, it became one of seven Ernst Hardware stores. It moved by 1938, when the building houded Eba's Mutual Groceries, also part of a local chain. The University Seafood and Poultry Company, established nearby in 1931, was acquired by Louis A. Erickson and his wife in 1945, and moved here in 1956.The Erickson family still owns the Adelaide.
The building was designed by George W. Lawton and Heman A. Moldenhour. Lawton came to Seattle from Wisconsin in 1889, and worked as a draftsman for Saunders & Houghton; he worked in partnership with Charles W. Saunders from 1898 until 1914, then worked independently until forming a partnership with Moldenhour. His best known work is the Masonic Temple (1914-16) on Pike Street. Moldenhour also came from Wisconsin and began as an office boy with Saunders & Lawton. The firm designed many large apartment and office buidlings, including the Fourth & Pike Building (1927). Lawton died in 1928, Moldenhour in 1976.
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| Appearance |
| This four-story store and apartment building is clad with cream-colored brick. It is topped with a prominent metal cornice with dentils. Most windows are one-over-one double hung sash, with terra cotta sills, arranged singly or in pairs. They appear to have newer vinyl sash. The front storefront, now occupied by Costa's restaurant, is significantly altered, with a used brick bulkhead. The north elevation, on NE 47th Street, has a singlr storefont and the main entry to the apartments. The apartment entry is in its original condition with extensive terra cotta trim including a gabled portico with dentils and fluted pilasters. The entry is clad with marble and has a wood-and-glass door with sidelights and a leaded transom. The storefront has a modern steel-and-glass floor; the main part of the store opens to the sidewalk, closed off with a sliding barn-type door. The seafood store also has a large neon sign. The original metal fire escape remains on this elevation. The west elevation on the alley is clad in common red brick, with double-hung windows on each floor and three rear entry doors. The south elevation, visible above the smaller adjacent buidling, has a shallow light well and original six-and nine-light sash. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat |
Roof Material(s): |
Other |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Multiple Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Masonry - Unreinforced |
No. of Stories: |
four |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Extensive |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
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Storefront: |
Extensive |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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Nielsen, Roy. UniverCity: The Story of The University District in Seattle. Seattle: University Lions Foundation, 1986.
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Ochsner, Jeffrey, “Seeing Richardson in His Time: The Problem of Romanesque Revival.” in M. Meister, editor. H. H. Richardson, the Architect and His Peers and Their Era. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1999.
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