| Historic Name: |
Laurelton Apartments |
Common Name: |
Laurelton Apartments |
| Style: |
Modern |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1927 |
| |
| 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. |
|
|
The Laurelton is unusual for 1920s Seattle apartment buildings, as it is of reinforced concrete construction in a stripped-down Modern design--a strong contrast with the highly ornamented brick-and terra cotta structures nearby. The architect, Frank L. Baker, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and was previously in partnership with James Blackwell, a prominent architect from Virginia who had come to the Northwest in 1891. The contractor was Sheble & Snyder, for the developer Denny Way Holding Company. The building originally has 33 (now 32) three-room apartments with centralized Kelvinator refrigerators, an advanced feature for the time. The building is highly intact.
|
|
| |
| Appearance |
| This unusual four-story building is stucco-clad, of reinforced concrete construction, in a quatrefoil or cruciform plan with four short (13 by 19 foot) wings. There is evidently a central courtyard, not visible from the exterior. The building is flanked by two large cedar trees that emphasize its verticality. The entry is in the center of the west elevation with a double staircase going up to an arched recessed entry with the word Laurelton above the oak door and sidelights.
The only ornament is brick red terra cotta tiles at the parapet in the center and at the end of each wing, and near the stairs.
Windows are all steel sash, with pairs of 8-light casements with four-light transoms. At the rear is a metal fire escape and a detached building with twelve garages. |
|
|
| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
|
| Cladding(s): |
Stucco |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Unknown |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Multiple Family |
Plan: |
Cross/Cruciform |
| Structural System: |
Concrete - Poured |
No. of Stories: |
four |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
|
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
|
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
|
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
|
| Major Bibliographic References |
|
Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
|
|
King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
|
|
City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
|
|
|
