CHAPTER 8:  APARTMENT HOUSE DEVELOPMENT: SEATTLE AND THE STUDY AREA

 

Conditions in Seattle were considerably different from the East Coast, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  It is not surprising that its apartment tradition differs.  Seattle did not have the high population density of New York or even of San Francisco.  Although its population grew very rapidly, tripling from 1900 to 1910, and growing to 315,000 in 1920, density remained low.  Most early Seattle families lived in detached woodframe houses, appropriate to their wealth.  Those without families often lived in the boarding houses and residential hotels commonly found in the downtown area.

 

Seattle has always been spoken of as a single family city.  Pitt's 1879 directory noted that many residents, even the poor, invested their earnings in homes: 

 

Lots in Fair View Addition cleared for building are sold on the installment plan, which has become very popular as it gives to every man, be he ever so poor, an opportunity of saving rent and investing his earnings in the purchase of a home.  The population of Seattle is largely composed of mechanics and workingmen who have taken advantage of such opportunities and occupied themselves when out of employment in constructing neat cottages and adorning them.^[52] 

 

In the mid-1920s a Seattle Garden Club booklet called it a city where "... the man of modest means can own a home commanding a view such as the millionaire in the East would give a fortune to possess."  At that time, the city was first in the United States in the percentage of citizens who owned their homes.^[53] 

 

In the 1940s, the Federal Writers Project guide to Washington said:

?Scattered throughout the city are many pleasant districts inhabited by families of middle income.  Free from congestion, five- to seven-room dwellings cover an unusual proportion of the city's space, and, owing to the moist and mild climate, their tenants have been able to surround themselves with flowers, shrubs and grassy lawns.... Moderately-priced apartment houses and hotels loom here and there among the low roofs of the cottages.?^[54] 

 

They noted that the better homes had shifted away from the center of the city, but that closer-in neighborhoods such as Queen Anne had not been entirely forsaken by the well-to-do.

 

But that was by no means the entire picture.  Census data shows that home ownership was still only a dream for the majority.  At the time of the 1900 census, two out of three people on Queen Anne rented rather than owned their homes.  Six percent of local residents were boarders; one of seven Queen Anne households took in boarders, people who rented rooms and ate meals with the family.^[55] 

 

By 1910 rapid population growth had outpaced development, and home ownership had gone down, with 82 percent renting.  More than one quarter of Queen Anne households took in boarders.  This may have been due to an influx of unestablished single people and newly married couples.   Apartment houses appeared during this decade; they provided the convenience of temporary quarters without the sacrifice of privacy of boarding in a private home.  

 

By 1920, with increased home construction, the situation had reversed.  Home ownership soared to 46 percent, falling to 42 percent in 1940, after the Depression.  The large number of rentals did not mean an acceptance of apartment living, however; most renters were in detached houses.^[56]   

 

From Seattle's earliest days boarding houses had been a significant type of lodging, as is common in pioneer communities where quick, inexpensive lodgings are needed for

people without families.  City directories and newspaper classified advertisements show large numbers of entries under "Boarding Houses" and "Lodging Houses," as well as "Furnished Rooms" or "Rooms for Rent."  At the time of the opening of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909, for example, newspapers had three columns under "Boarders Wanted" and "Rooms for Rent."  Some rooms were in hotels, but many were in private homes in all neighborhoods, including Queen Anne.  These renters were not limited to the poor; many ads specified that they were looking for "young ladies," "gentlemen," or "refined" boarders.^[57]

 

Apartment Hotels

"Family" or "apartment" hotels were also found in Seattle, although they were not as popular or as well-equipped as those in New York and other larger cities.  According to Henry Broderick, an early 20th century real estate entrepreneur, Seattle had "family" or "apartment" hotels at least as early as the 1870s.  The Lincoln Hotel at 4th and Madison streets catered to the middle class seeking gentility, and prospered until it burned in the 1920s.  The Sorrento Hotel, on the other hand, aimed for a higher class crowd, with an elegant building on First Hill with a view dining room.  It was a financial failure, as was its neighbor, the Perry.  This lavishly-outfitted building was purchased by Mother Frances Cabrini and became a hospital.^[58]

An advertisement in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of September 2, 1929 promoting those apartment hotels that advertised in the paper gave a clear statement of this market segment:  "The whole purpose is to provide convenience.  People whose business and social duties are too many to permit time for household maintenance--newcomers who desire homelike quarters immediately upon arrival."  An impressive array of such hotels was cited, many of them still in existence in some form: the Benjamin Franklin, the Frye, the Wintonia, the Calhoun, the Moore, the Camlin, the Olive Tower, the Wilsonian.^[59] 

 

Judging from listings in city directories, Queen Anne had no transient hotels or large boarding houses.  However, at the edge of the community, at what is now Queen Anne Avenue and Denny Way, was the Sarah B. Yesler Women's Hotel.  This was founded in 1892 to "meet the needs of women and girls coming to the city on business or pleasure."  It offered pleasant rooms, meals, a sewing room and large parlors with pianos for $4.00 to $5.00 per week.^[60]

 

The Chelsea Apartments on West Olympic Place were built in 1907 to house visiting families.  The Chelsea's charms were widely advertised.  One ad, running under the "Room and Board" classification a few years after the Exposition said:

 

Seattle's Scenic Hotel Facing Kinnear Park.  10 minutes from business center. High-grade family home; large rooms, magnificent view, excellent neighborhood, roof garden, large lobby, private telephone in all rooms. Single rooms and suites with private bath...Take Kinnear car.^[61] 

The rates started at $1.00 a day, or $2.00 and up with meals.  The convenient and pleasant location, and the amenities such as the view, the lobby, the roof garden and telephones reflected the qualities mentioned in advertisements for nearby apartments.  The owner, Charles R. Collins, lived at the Chelsea with his wife and three children.  It was designed by Harlan Thomas, who designed the Sorrento Hotel, a family hotel on First Hill, and the Amalfi Apartments on Queen Anne Avenue. It is an eclectic mix of English, Renaissance and Italianate styles, with an unusual narrow courtyard with stairs leading to the second floor.  It now has 58 apartment units, averaging 529 square feet.

 

The Delamar was built at the east end of West Olympic Place, as a private hotel for the Kinnears' guests.  It opened in 1909, in time for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.  The style is neo-Classical, based on a Florentine villa that Kinnear saw on his travels..  Its formal courtyard features a pond and a marble statue.  The facade has three-story terra cotta pilasters topped by fluted capitals.  A highly ornamented frieze and cornice edge the building, topped by a terra cotta balustrade.  Windows are highly detailed.  There are 39 units, averaging over 1,000 square feet each.

Efficiency Apartments

Another apartment type, popularized in California, deserves discussion because of its significant use in Seattle, including lower Queen Anne.  The "efficiency apartment" was basically a unit in which one room served more than one function; in one of its most common forms, the living room became the bedroom at night.  This often occurred with the use of the Murphy bed, which folded into the wall during the day.  The beds could also fit into a "dressing room," a space larger than a closet but smaller than a full bedroom.

 

A 1927 article in The Western Architect, published in Chicago, described the origins:

 

?High ground values and mounting building costs, coupled with the necessity of providing rentable space in desirable localities at costs not prohibitive, have brought into apartment house planning a new factor--the "efficiency apartment."  It developed on the Pacific Coast.  There the annual influx of pilgrims and the rapid increase of permanent residents created for the community a condition not unlike the unexpected arrival of groups of relatives was wont to create in the household of former days.  Ingenious planners worked out for the community thus "stricken" a modus operandi not dissimilar to that which, in many an older household, made sleeping and living quarters of the front parlors, for unexpected guests.?^[62]

 

The author focuses on the advantages of providing a larger number of rentable units in a given space, thereby increasing the return on investment.  Although there were costs in providing furnishings such as Murphy beds, the increase in rentable space by one third and the additional rent for the furnishings allowed high-cost buildings to be built in high-value locations at modest rents.  Queen Anne is a good example of this trend.

 

The typical configuration described sounds much like the units on lower Queen Anne:  a living room, a large "dressing room" with doors, a full bathroom, a large closet, and a kitchen and dining room, divided by china cabinets.  Sometimes the dressing rooms featured built-in dressers and cabinets.  Kitchens were typically fully equipped with refrigeration, range, cabinets and a built-in ironing board.  The goal was easy, efficient housekeeping.  The author notes that the positive response of tenants to these units has changed the mind of lenders due to "...the obvious fact that the efficiency apartment is a solution of a definite requirement of present day living and not a temporary and unsatisfactory substitute for detached dwellings to the older type of apartment."^[63]   However, there is no further discussion of who the tenants were, except a mention of a woman's apartment hotel option, with two rooms sharing a common bath (but each having its own built-in ironing board).

 

John Hancock discusses the popularity of efficiency apartments in Seattle, saying they were typically studio or small one-bedroom units.^[64]  A study of the Denny Regrade for example, found that more than 80 percent of the dwelling units in the sample were studios, generally averaging 275 to 450 square feet.  They had a living room, a kitchen and bath, and a large closet, often with a slide-out bed.  The large living rooms actually provide more flexibility of use than the smaller rooms found in the one-bedroom units.^[65]

 

By early 1927 real estate studies reported "an ample supply of 2-room suites," with a trend to more three and four room units.  At the same time, buildings were also getting smaller, averaging 16 units as compared to the 30 or 40 unit buildings found in earlier years.^[66]  This trend was not clearly identifiable on Queen Anne, however.  Although many large units were built toward the end of the decade, so were large buildings like the Seaview, with efficiency apartments.

 

Apartment Development Pattern on Queen Anne

As noted above, apartment houses in Seattle began appearing in the 1890s, generally along street car lines and near neighborhood commercial areas, such as Queen Anne, Wallingford, Capitol Hill and the University District.  The development of apartment houses on Queen Anne between 1900 and 1930 is an example of this pattern.  This review focuses on the date of construction and the location of the buildings, with some discussion of the styles and amenities that developed over these years.  Specific buildings are described and illustrated at the end of the chapter.  The development pattern is shown on the map below; the buildings and their key characteristics are listed in the appendix. 

1900-1910

Between 1900 and 1910, apartment construction occurred primarily on the main transit street, Queen Anne Avenue.  Four apartment houses appeared: 1413 Queen Anne (1906), the Willis (1908), the Park Ridge (1909) and the Castle Court (1910).  The other early apartment house in the study area was the Kinnear (1907), located on another car line, not far from the Chelsea Hotel.

 

1911-1919

This trend continued during the next decade, with new additions on Queen Anne Avenue including the Amalfi (1912), the Montanita (1913) and the Del Roy (1914), the largest local apartment building up to this time, with 49 units.  Although no other apartment structures were built elsewhere in the study area, the Delamar and the Chelsea on West Olympic Place were converted to apartments. 

 

1920-1929

Toward the end of the decade, World War I trade and industrial activity brought workers and jobs to Seattle, straining the available housing supply.  However, the post-war economy precluded immediate construction to meet this need.  In 1920 the Queen Anne News reported the great demand for rentals in the community, despite the fact that property was selling for relatively low prices.  They made their feelings clear: "It is a good thing there are few homes for rent as the renter class is not as desirable as the homeowning class.  If people are forced to buy they will feel an interest in the property and the community and the Hill will benefit."^[67] 

 

However, apartment construction proceeded.  The Victoria on West Highland Drive was the first post-war apartment building in the study area, in 1921.  Its construction kicked off the 1920s building boom--to some degree.  Its architect, John Graham, Sr., designer of many of the city's most important commercial buildings, announced the Victoria's start with great fanfare in May 1921, saying that construction of the "mammoth community apartment house"  indicated a "fast reviving building situation in Seattle...the first important answer to the campaign waged by the Chamber of Commerce to get the public to build now."  Graham went on to predict "there will be a great influx of people to Seattle seeking homes this fall.  We are following what we have been teaching:  build now.  It is especially needed."^[68]  With all this, however, it was 1925-26 before other apartments appeared in the area.

 

Apartment living became widely accepted in Seattle during the 1920s.  Technology and the efforts of designers and developers in other cities had resulted in more comfortable and safe buildings, with light and air, fireproof construction, attractive courtyards, and convenient floorplans.  Local developers showed great interest in this new market.  The Journal of Commerce reported record construction levels in 1925, including "thousands of houses and scores of apartment houses."^[69]  Apartment construction continued to increase through the decade; for example, the first four months of 1927 saw twice as many permits for apartment buildings as the same period a year earlier.^[70] In the study area, 19 apartment buildings went up.  Many of area's vacant lots were filled in, and single family homes were replaced with apartments, most of which still exist today.   

 

Relatively little of the 1920s development occurred on Queen Anne Avenue, where most earlier activity had been.  Only four buildings were added.  Two of these were by Fred Anhalt:  1320 Queen Anne (1927) and a bungalow court across the street (now demolished).  The others were the Greenwich (1928) and 900 Queen Anne Avenue.

 

However, other streets in the study area saw considerable activity.  Chandler Hall on West Roy Street near Queen Anne Avenue was the largest building, in terms of number of units, until the 1950s.  It had 75 small units, serving primarily single people. At the opposite extreme were the three elegant view buildings on West Highland Drive.

 

The greatest change occurred on West Olympic Place and adjacent streets, where eleven buildings were added.  The Ireland (1927), the Glen Eden (1929) and three projects with two buildings each, the Olympic Arms/Grayson (1925), the Los Altos/Saxonia (1927) and the West Coast Arms (1928) were typical rectangular block buildings with studio and one bedroom units.  Villa Costella (1929) and Seville Court (1927) were in the Mediterranean style with larger townhouse units, balconies, courtyards, and elaborate landscaping.

 

Another source of housing units during the 1920s-30s was the conversion of single family structures to multifamily use.  Numerous large houses, of varying degrees of elegance and amenities, had been constructed on view streets between 1890 and 1910.  However, in the 1920s servants became increasingly difficult to find and newer, more fashionable neighborhoods attracted the upper middle class. The Treat Mansion on West Highland Drive was converted into apartments in 1922.  This trend intensified with the economic and population pressures of the Depression and war and continued in the 1950s-60s when zoning increased the value of many properties. Many of these houses have now been replaced by larger apartment structures, but many still exist on West Olympic Place.

 

1930-1935

Both construction and population growth came to a standstill in the 1930s.  Residential construction dropped precipitously, from 2,583 units in 1930 to 361 in 1932.  Between 1933 and 1937 only four permits for apartment houses were issued.^[71]  Several buildings in the study area were under construction at this time and completed after the stock market crash in 1930-31.  Most of these were near West Roy Street and were simple, block-form buildings with studio apartments, such as the Westroy, the Iris, the Marianne, the Leonard, the Viking, and La Charme.  Others followed the more elegant trend with attractive courtyards, including the Seaview, Olympus Manor and Anhalt's building at 1108-9th Avenue West.  The Galer Crest, a mixed-use building, was completed at the top of Queen Anne Avenue in 1930. 

 

Physical Characteristics

The pre-war Seattle apartment house on Queen Anne is typically a three- to four-story rectangular or U-shaped structure, of wood frame construction with brick or stucco facing.  A small number used steel-frame construction.  A wide variety of ornamentation is found.  Variations on the Tudor, Mediterranean or Classical themes were most common.  Others were more fanciful, using Norman, Gothic, or Italianate motifs, as well as various Art Deco variations. 

 

The structures were generally of moderate size, ranging from approximately ten to 75 units.  The individual units varied greatly in size; many buildings had primarily studios or one bedroom units, while some more elegant buildings had units as large as 1500 square feet.  Some of the more elaborate courtyard buildings featured townhouse, or two-story units, often with amenities such as fireplaces or balconies.  These complexes often had individual entrances for each unit, providing more privacy and direct access to the outdoors.    

 

Courtyards reached new heights during the 1920s, although courtyard apartments were never as dominant in Seattle as in Los Angeles.  With Seattle's climate, outdoor living is not as important and year-round gardening is more difficult.  In addition, Seattle was a smaller market with a relatively lackluster economy, so there were fewer developers able to build larger buildings or experiment with more exotic ideas.  The courts varied from narrow paved areas with a few plants and perhaps a fountain to block-wide lawns and gardens.  These provided an attractive, calming transition between the street and the building.  They also allowed more units to have light and pleasant outlooks, increasing the developer's profit. 

 

One of the most popular amenities, beginning about 1925, was the garage.  Mass production of automobiles had allowed many middle-class and working class people to acquired automobiles, increasing the storage problem.  Ease of construction, convenience and the scarcity of land in denser urban areas encouraged attached garages.^[72]  Others These were often located underground, but some were at street level with units or a courtyard above them.  More spacious developments kept the garages in a separate structure in back, much as a large house would.  Most garages, however, were tucked inconspicuously under the building with small entranceways and drives.  The use of concrete made fireproof garages possible--a point in many classified ads.

 

The popularity of garages is particularly interesting because most of these buildings were efficiency apartments, intended for low to moderate income working people.  All were located close to transit lines, some only a few feet away.  Yet garages were prominent in the advertisements and were obviously considered important amenities.

 

Marketing/promotion

Newspaper classified advertising is a very basic form of communication, presenting simple, straightforward descriptions of products for sale or lease.  For this reason, they are a good means to assess values, or what owners think is worth featuring in order to sell a product.  Classified ads for apartments are an expression of how the owners view their buildings and the audience the buildings are designed to appeal to.  They reflect, to some extent, the building's place in the housing and social spectrum. 

 

To gain insight into Seattle's apartments during the highest point of their development, classified ads from four months (February, May, September and December) in 1929 were reviewed.  The year 1929 was selected because of the large number of new apartment buildings opening.  Earlier structures also remained on the market, of course.  Sixteen of the study area buildings were described in the classified ads of this period.

 

Along with the advertisements, the weekly real estate pages were reviewed.  These had minimal discussion of apartments, except for an occasional building sale.  Single family homes were clearly the goal of most people, searching for "...a home of your own, a view ... and fresh air," as North Park was described.^[73]

 

Based on these ads, it appears that apartments were not promoted as substitutes for single family homes.  For example, the word "homelike" was mentioned only twice, relating to the Kinnear and the Victoria (which has truly homelike apartments).  Not surprisingly, the most common amenity mentioned was the view, for ten of the sixteen buildings.  Children or proximity to schools were rarely mentioned, although they were mentioned in apartment ads for other areas such as Wallingford.  Only Seville Court, which had large units and a landscaped courtyard, actually invited children, mentioning its play area and nearby schools.^[74]  The Vance, which also had two-bedroom units, said "no objection to children."^[75]

 

Modern features were almost as important as views, particularly refrigerators and laundry appliances.  The Glen Eden boasted "The kitchens are perfect with many labor-saving conveniences found exclusively in Gwinn buildings."^[76]  Radios were also mentioned frequently. 

 

One can glean some hints of the intended tenants from the ads.  For example, two or three mentioned a mangle as a feature of the laundry room.  This appliance would most likely appeal more to a woman, perhaps a working woman such as a store clerk, rather than a man, who would possibly be more likely to send clothes out to a laundry.

 

Decor and charm were often mentioned.  Since many units were rented furnished, the furniture was important, the preferred fashion being "overstuffed."  Some went into considerable descriptive detail, such as the Vance (Marqueen) at 600 West Queen Avenue: "...just newly decorated kitchens in a soft beautiful green and cream enamel, living rooms to harmonize in soft tones and baths tiled and finished in delicate flesh pink and white enamel."^[77]

 

Some courtyard apartments featured their landscaping, but not as much as might be expected.  The Greenwich advertised its "...spacious roof garden, tiled entrance court, with flowers and marble pool."^[78]  However, many buildings with extensive landscaping never mentioned it in their ads.

 

Garages were more than twice as likely to be mentioned as the proximity to transit.  Even though all of these buildings were on bus lines, only three noted the fact.  Six promoted their attached garages: "garage in connection" and "concrete fireproof garage" were frequent phrases. 

 

Location in general, other than the view, was not often mentioned.   It is clear that Queen Anne was a prestigious address--three ads mentioned the "desirable" neighborhood.  "Quiet" or sometimes even "soundproof" appeared fairly often, indicating that noise was a concern then as it is today.  Convenience to shops and schools, however, was seldom mentioned, although it was commonly found in descriptions of apartments in other areas.  It appears that the view and building features were considered more promising selling points on Queen Anne. 

 

Examples of Apartment Houses

Several notable examples of the multifamily housing stock found in the study area are described here and illustrated.  They were selected both to represent various periods of apartment development in the area, and to reflect the types of buildings, both in terms of physical form and amenities and the intended class of tenants.  They are listed in chronological order. 

 

Gable House (shown below), one of Seattle's largest and grandest mansions, at the key location of Queen Anne Avenue and West Highland Drive, was built in 1901 by Harry Whitney Treat, a real estate developer.  Located conveniently on the street car line (which Treat owned)[sic], it had a tremendous view and luxurious appointments.  Designed by the prominent local firm of Bebb and Mendel in the English Arts and Crafts style, it is of brick and stucco with extensive stained glass.  With nearly 20,000 square feet, it was one of the city's largest homes.  On Mr. Treat's death in 1922; the it was too large to be maintained and was soon converted to apartments.  It was returned to single family use for some time before being restored and converted into apartments again in 1975, to prevent demolition for a high-rise building.  It now has fifteen units, averaging 1,072 square feet.

The Ballard Mansion, or 22 West Highland Drive (shown below), was built by Martin D. Ballard, founder of the Seattle Hardware Company, across the street from Treat's house.  Completed in 1906, it was designed by deNeuf and Heide.  Its bright white paint, Georgian Revival style, and colossal Ionic portico, along with its prominent site, make it one of the most striking structures on Queen Anne.  It was converted into apartments in 1943, and remodeled in 1985 to form six units averaging more than 1,200 square feet.

The first structure in the study area intended to be an apartment house was built at the top of the hill at Galer Street in 1906.  Originally called the Wilhelmina, its name was changed to the Winona during World War I, and it is now known simply as 1413 Queen Anne Avenue.  Its 14 units are quite small, averaging 581 square feet; this came to be typical of many of the area's apartments.  The Willis, across from the Kinnear home, followed in 1908, with ten units of about the same size (604 square feet).  It is an unusual stucco building with Classical pilasters and detailing.  The Castle Court Apartments, built in 1910, had slightly larger units and a small entry courtyard.  The Amalfi, a Spanish-style stucco building was built in 1912 on a narrow lot along the hillside.  Its facade was recently extensively redesigned.  

 

The Parkridge, at 916 Queen Anne Avenue, is a plain brick structure built in 1909.  It originally had only ten units, but now has twelve, of more than 1,100 square feet each. 

 

The nearby Montanita was constructed in 1913, with a deep, narrow entry courtyard.  This building was first called the Heidelberg, but the name was quickly changed during World War I.  It was one of the area's larger buildings, with 23 units of 759 square feet.

The Kinnear, shown below, was one of the most elegant of the early buildings.  Located where Olympic Way West turns north, near Kinnear Park and the Chelsea Hotel, it is sited to take advantage of the view.  It was designed in 1907 by a well-known Seattle architect, W.P. White, in stucco and brick with a rounded bay at the corner.  Its units average over 900 square feet, with four or five rooms each. 

After World War I, Queen Anne's apartment buildings became more ornate, as exemplified by those on West Highland Drive and their use of terra cotta ornament.  Terra cotta is a molded, fired clay block with extraordinary plasticity and a durable, shiny finish, usually in a cream color.  Its plasticity meant that elaborate ornamentation could be applied to dress up a plain building without costly handcarving.  Architectural magazines throughout the 1920s were filled with examples and advertisements for entranceways in Gothic or Mediterranean styles.  In Seattle, it was commonly used on large commercial buildings to decorate or completely clad the facade, and on brick apartment buildings, to enhance entryways and cornices and emphasize windows.  Many Seattle buildings are simple, stark brick blocks, but the terra cotta ornament provides individuality and softens the structures.   However, the use of terra cotta died out after World War II; terra cotta was seen as too costly, and Modernism rejected ornament.

 

The architect of the Victoria Apartments, John Graham, Sr., was noted for his "appropriate and sensitive use of historic and modern architectural styles and his eye for proportion and nuance of ornament."^[79]  The building cost $600,000 when it was built in 1921 in a Tudor Revival style, in red brick with terra cotta ornament.  It occupies an entire block at the crest of the hill with panoramic views of the city and Elliott Bay.  The U-shaped building surrounds a vast terraced lawn (recently re-designed), which allows residents to not only enjoy the water view but to have garden views from virtually every window and a greater sense of privacy from the street.  It also provides an important amenity to the neighborhood, providing open space, light and attractive plantings.

The Victoria's aim was to have home-like units with large comfortable rooms and amenities seldom found in Seattle apartments.  The building's original configuration had 48 apartments of two to six rooms each, three elevators, six laundries, a community assembly room, a childrens' playroom, 20 maid's rooms with sitting room and bath; and 48 garages.  Many larger units had service entrances, foyers, libraries, and fireplaces; each unit had a service door, where trash was picked up daily.  The building now has 55 one- and two-bedroom units, some formed from the servants' rooms. 

 

Several years later two other apartment buildings were built on West Highland Drive, the Narada (1926) and the Parkview (1927), across from Kerry Park.  While much smaller structures than the Victoria, they shared its emphasis on unusually large, comfortable units and spectacular views.  The Parkview is quite similar to the Victoria, with a courtyard, but on a much smaller scale. 

 

The Narada, shown below, is distinguished by its extensive and ornate terra cotta ornamentation.  Being just at the edge of the hill, it is easily visible from below.  Its units are large, averaging more than 1,000 square feet.  In the 1920s, a five-room view suite rented for $150 a month, at a time when other large apartments in the area were $60.00 to $75.00. [ed.note: see also Department of Neighborhoods]

West Olympic Place saw extensive changes in the late 1920s, with eight new buildings.  Development began in 1925 with the Grayson and the Olympic Arms at the east end, with several more added in the immediate area during 1927-28.  All are the familiar 1920s type, with brick veneer construction in a block form.  They are primarily efficiency and one-bedroom units, averaging from 640 to 1,000 square feet.  The end of the decade brought more elegant buildings.  Olympus Manor graced the east end with a large landscaped courtyard; its 34 units average 700 square feet.

 

However, the most spectacular structure is the Spanish Revival-style Villa Costella was built on the view site formerly occupied by John Ritchie Kinnear's mansion.  The long, white building with tropical landscaping and red tile roofs is distinctively different from surrounding structures.  The 20 apartments, averaging 1,000 square feet, have tiel floors, electric fireplaces, beamed ceilings and French doors to view decks.  Villa Costella was built by John Beardsley, a local developer who specialized in Mediterranean styles.  Fred Anhalt may have participated in the project as well. [ed. note: see also Department of Neighborhoods research]      

A more subdued example of the Mediterranean style is the Alexander Hamilton (shown below), on Olympic Way West past the Kinnear apartments.  The building is basically linear, squeezed onto a narrow view site.  Each entrance is distinguished by a red tiel roof, twisted columns, decorative tiles and an elaborate leaded glass door.  The Alexander Hamilton was built in 1929; it has 22 units, averaging 780 square feet.   

The Mediterranean styles also influenced Fred Anhalt, Seattle's best known apartment builder.  Of his four buildings in the study area, two are Mediterranean (Seville Court and  1130-9th Avenue West); one, at 1320 Queen Anne Avenue, is his more typical Tudor style.  The fourth building was a bungalow court at 1212 Queen Anne Avenue, which was demolished in 1970. 

 

Anhalt aimed to be different from other developers by creating large individualized units that people could consider permanent homes.  He particularly wanted to avoid the long hallways that he said reminded him of tenements.  His "apartment homes" were refuges distinguished by their size, quality detailing, landscaping and charm, built for people who did not want to own property, but could afford the best.^[80]  His most typical styles were Tudor and Norman French courtyard apartments, which became very popular.  They featured such details as leaded or stained glass, turrets, fireplaces, beamed ceilings, and elaborate brickwork.^[81]   Anhalt considered a nice view important, home, so he developed attractive courtyards as a practical way to achieve this pleasant outlook: "I could make things look the way I wanted them to, that way, which is hard to do when you're dealing with a view of Mount Rainier or Puget Sound."^[82]  The typical approach was through a landscaped courtyard, with entrances leading to two or three units.  The plantings and privacy make going home a pleasant transition from the outside world. 

 

1320 Queen Anne Avenue is in an English Tudor style of brick and stucco, with steeply pitched roofs, and half timbering.  Built in 1927, it has only nine units, with more than 1,10 square feet each; they feature fireplaces and leaded glass windows.  The building fits into a long narrow site beneath a steep ridge, so the entry courtyards are very small.

1108-9th Avenue West, previously known as Franca Villa, has 13 townhouses arranged around a large courtyard.  Garages are located at the side and under the courtyard.  It is one of the few Anhalt buildings oriented toward a view; it faces Elliott Bay.

 

Seville Court on First Avenue West is similar, but its courtyard is overgrown with large trees, providing a refuge-like feeling.  Its 16 units average nearly 700 square feet. [ed. note: see also Seattle Department of Neighborhoods research]  

The last major development, in 1929-31, was the group of Art Deco buildings on and near West Roy Street.  Five lie within the study area, and several more are on Mercer Street, just outside the boundaries.  They are generally a block shape, with a central stairway and a small lobby, often decorated with simple stained or leaded glass.  They are primarily of wood frame construction with brick veneer and a restrained appearance. 

 

Their interiors are quite similar.  The  apartment units are typically small (536 to 650 square feet), usually consisting of an entryway, living room, dining area, small kitchen and a small bedroom or large sleeping alcove/dressing room.  While the units were small, they had touches of elegance.  They generally have extensive woodwork, floors of oak or fir, and often leaded glass doors in the living room or dining room.   Although these buildings were probably planned for the working person of moderate means, they all had garages.

 

The distinguishing feature of these buildings is their ornamented friezes and entryways, which range from stylized ferns and flowers to geometric chevrons and zigzags in the Moderne style.  The Art Deco style was an outgrowth of the naturalistic Art Nouveau design, but was more stylized to achieve a new, more modern look.  The style referenced many cultures, integrating art with architecture in a manner which was seldom found after World War II, when Modernism became the guiding theme.  These Queen Anne buildings reflect both the era's fascination with technology, in the streamlined zigzags and chevrons, and the appeal of naturalistic forms such as ferns and flowers.   More exotic examples reflected modern art movements such as Cubism and exotic cultures such as Egyptian, Mayan, and Celtic themes.^[83]

 

The Sea View, at the west end of Roy Street where it deadends into lower Kinnear Park,  is the largest and best of the group of Art Deco buildings.  Built as the Depression began, in 1930, it has extensive Zigzag Moderne ornament both inside and outside.  The frieze and entryway feature naturalistic fern-like designs.  The 65 units are arranged in three stories around a formal landscaped courtyard with a pond.  The interior was unusual in that it had a large lobby with a panoramic view, an elevator, and a ballroom in the basement.  There is a large underground garage. [ed. note: see also Seattle Department of Neighborhoods research]

The apartment interiors were designed for tenants who were satisfied with little space but wanted elegant surroundings.  They are distinguished by leaded glass French doors, built-in bookcases, extensive woodwork, and tiled kitchens and baths.  The units average about 600 square feet; nearly all are efficiencies, with a large "dressing room" rather than a bedroom.  Many residents have views of Elliott Bay.  The Sea View is one of the few apartment buildings in the study area that has become a condominium.