The Washington Classic Buildings project, led by Washington State University faculty, selected 235 structures across the state for the Society of Architectural Historian’s Archipedia. Below are 12 examples of that list.

Read more about the Washington Classic Buildings.

 

Lake Quinault Lodge, Quinault

Lake Quinault Lodge

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

Nestled in the Olympic National Forest, the rustic, timber-framed, V-shaped Lake Quinault Lodge draws upon Colonial Revival traditions and features natural wood-stained shingles, gabled ends, dormers, and a cupola. Built in 1926 and designed by Robert C. Reamer with careful consideration for symmetry and the breathtaking setting, this structure emphasizes its great room, where the masonry fireplace is a focal point and much of the original wicker furniture remains. President Franklin D. Roosevelt lunched here in 1937. Today, the dining room is named for him.

 

Paradise Inn, Rainier

Paradise Lodge at Mount Rainier

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

This grand, rustic lodge—with exposed heavy timber framing and use of native materials, both hallmarks of early twentieth-century National Park Service architecture—stands at an elevation of 5,420 feet in the southwest quadrant of Mount Rainier National Park. Designed by Tacoma architect Frederick Heath and opened in 1917, the original structure features steeply pitched gabled roofs, a second-story row of dormer windows, and distinctive furnishings by Hans Fraehnke, including a mail-drop stump, grandfather clock, registration desk, and piano played by President Harry S. Truman in 1945. The Annex, designed by the Seattle firm of Thomas and Harlan, opened in 1920, more than doubling the number of guest rooms.

 

The Brick Saloon (formerly The Brick Tavern), Roslyn

The Brick in Roslyn, Washington

Robert R. Franklin/SAH Archipedia

The Brick claims to be “Washington’s oldest continuously operating bar.” That’s debatable. But, during Prohibition, it did serve soft drinks and ice cream. Established by Italian immigrants John Buffo and Peter Giovanni, the corner tavern got its name in 1898 when the building was built with more than 45,000 bricks. The backbar, made in England, came around Cape Horn and was purchased in Portland, Oregon. A 23-foot-long, running-water spittoon—now used for annual spittoon races featuring tiny toy boats—sits under the footrest. The jail cells in the basement were used in the 1979 film The Runner Stumbles, starring Dick Van Dyke, Beau Bridges, and Kathleen Quinn. The exterior was featured in the 1990s TV show Northern Exposure for which the old coal-mining town provided the backdrop, doubling as the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska.

 

Spokane County Courthouse, Spokane

Spokane County Courthouse

Jaime Lynn Rice/SAH Archipedia

This picturesque castle-like structure—complete with turrets, towers, and rooftops reminiscent of those of sixteenth-century French chateaux—overlooks the city from a perch just north of downtown. The most prominent feature: a 200-foot-tall central tower with a pyramidal roof topped with a flagpole. The eclectic and elaborate combinations of elements and styles—from Romanesque to Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque—were the work of Willis A. Ritchie, a young but accomplished architect who won top prize in the building’s design competition in 1893. It was completed two years later.

 

Leonard Barn, Pullman

Leonard Barn near Pullman, Washington

Tom J. Bartuska/SAH Archipedia

Designed and built in 1917 by Thomas Andrew Leonard, this twelve-sided round barn took its shape from the practical goal of optimizing dairy production during an era of increasing industrialization. The plan provided an easy way to feed and clean animals as well as better lighting and ventilation than other designs. The structure stands approximately 60 feet in diameter and is built around a central wooden silo that stands 10 feet in diameter. It includes a concrete foundation, hay loft, and cupola that stretches 62 feet high.

 

Wilkeson Coke Ovens, Wilkeson

Wilkeson coke ovens in Washington state

Caroline T. Swope/SAH Archipedia

These beehive-shaped ovens—built between 1885 and 1914—were designed to support coal mining near the Carbon River and once numbered 160. Today, 30 remain. They were built along now-abandoned Northern Pacific railroad tracks that provided transportation to foundries and other industries in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland as well as ships bound for San Francisco. At the height of production in 1916, the ovens produced more than 125,000 tons of coke. Mining ceased at the site in 1937. Since then, many of the ovens collapsed. Today, they are part of a park.

 

Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University

Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

Architect Steven Holl’s concept for this urban chapel was “seven bottles of light in a stone box.” The design features seven differently shaped towers and colored glass that—depending on the season and time of day—enables the chapel to glow predominately red, blue, yellow, green, orange, or purple. Twisted bronze handles adorn the Alaskan yellow cedar door, which features elliptical lens-like openings. Hand-blown lamps hang from the ceiling. The northern wall contains a nook—a chapel within the chapel—containing a 20-foot-tall madrone tree branch and beeswax-coated walls. Completed in 1997, the Chapel of St. Ignatius blends modern abstraction with ancient church elements: narthex, nave, bell tower. It also blends western and eastern traditions with a Zen-like reflection pool out front.

 

Smith Tower, Seattle

Smith Tower in Seattle

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

Situated in the heart of Pioneer Square, this distinctive 1914 skyscraper—with its pyramidal roof and 2,300 bronze-encased windows—was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time of its completion. It featured high speed elevators, wireless telegraph, telephones, a central vacuum system, and a 35th-floor observation deck. The 462-foot-tall Smith Tower, designed by the Syracuse, New York-based firm of Gaggin and Gaggin, served as a symbol for the city’s progress and prosperity.

 

Legislative Building, Olympia

Legislative Building, Olympia

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

The hallmark of the State Capitol Building, completed in 1928, is its soaring Baroque dome, standing 287 feet tall. New York architects Walter Wilder and Harry White won a competition for the project with their symmetrical, classical design featuring a massive, stone-faced exterior, Corinthian porticos, recessed Doric colonnades, cast-bronze doors, and decorative interior, including a five-ton Tiffany chandelier. Public viewing galleries line the upper level of each of the legislative chambers: the German marble-lined Senate Chamber and the French marble-lined House Chamber. A barrel-vaulted reception room—with Italian marble walls, parquet floors, and more Tiffany chandeliers—sits on the third floor.

 

Marcus Whitman Hotel, Walla Walla

Marcus Whitman Hotel, Walla Walla

Robert R. Franklin/SAH Archipedia

This thirteen-story hotel has presided over Walla Walla’s otherwise low-lying skyline since 1928. Seattle-based architect Sherwood D. Ford designed its jagged profile with four distinct parts: a seven-story base, slightly set-back section with floors eight through eleven, two-story penthouse, and single-story west wing with two dining rooms. The design, reminiscent of Renaissance Revival overall, includes a Georgian room with paneled walls featuring seashell motifs and a lobby with a terrazzo floor and urn-and-flower theme. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson stayed here. So did Shirley Temple and Louis Armstrong.

 

Ozette Archaeological Site

Ozette Archaeological Site

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

About 200 Native families were living at this remote coastal site south of Neah Bay in 1873. By 1888, approximately 90 remained. The government continued to push people to leave the village and, by 1901, the population dropped to 41. In 1923, it was eight. In 1932, it was two. Excavations in the mid-1960s led by WSU archaeology professor Richard Daugherty unveiled myriad artifacts. But it wasn’t until February 1970 that a storm exposed a centuries-old indigenous village at the site. The subsequent eleven years of excavations yielded bowls, baskets, canoe paddles, combs, tools, seal and whale bones, and the remains of long houses—including wooden beams, rafters, and columns. These dwellings are believed, due to radiocarbon dating, to have been buried in a massive mudslide in 1560. Many of the thousands of recovered artifacts are now displayed at the Makah Cultural and Research Center, built in 1979 in Neah Bay.

 

Point Defiance Park, Tacoma

Point Defiance Park, Tacoma

J. Philip Gruen/SAH Archipedia

President Grover Cleveland authorized the use of an undeveloped military reservation as a city park in 1888. Today, the 760-acre peninsula features a zoo, aquarium, marina, stand of old-growth forest, gardens, trails, beaches, 1914 pagoda, and original 1860 granary building from Fort Nisqually. Several landscape architects helped plan the park, which once housed Tacoma’s first indoor swimming pool. The Nereides Baths opened in 1906 with salt water from Puget Sound heated to 80 degrees. The natatorium was demolished in 1932. The superintendent’s lodge, completed in 1899, was transformed into a visitor center in 1980. More than three million people visit the park each year.