The one pictured here is the Anhalt Arms, formerly the Berkeley Court, at 1405 E. John St. It was built in 1927 by the Western Building and Leasing Company, Anhalt's company at the time. It is one of few remaining Anhalt apartment buildings still in use as rental apartments.
Sometimes known as little castles, there are many elements about these buildings that one can enjoy. My family wished for decades to live in one, and when we had an opportunity, we moved to the Anhalt Arms and stayed put for nearly eight years. We delighted in the way the apartment looks out into a courtyard so that even on these two busy streets one has the feeling of being sheltered.
And we liked the spacious rooms, doubled into a townhouse and connected by a partly-spiral staircase. The proportions seemed just right so that our second-hand furniture looked good in the cottage-like spaces under coved ceilings. Shadows on the stucco-ed interior walls are spectacular. There are lots of closets, too.
We treasured, too, that the nine units in this building are each differently sized and shaped, from studios to four-bedrooms. This created a desirable mix - we had a range of neighbors that included a new baby as well as a grandmother. For some reason, this building also has regularly attracted artists. We always had a professional musician in residence, and often a painter or performer as well.
Fred Anhalt (1896-1996) arrived in Seattle and opened an appliance sales store in 1926. When that business proved underwhelming, he became interested in building. He studied pattern books, selected features he liked and roughed out ideas that were then translated into drawings by his staff draughtsman, Edwin E. Dofsen.
Anhalt's company grew as the buildings grew, and the materials he used were local. Anhalt Arms, like most Anhalt "castles" is a frame building, clad in klinker brick from Builders Brick of Seattle and laid by staff bricklayers. Anhalt rented space in the Anderson Iron Works shop and his staff ironmaker did all the scrollwork, lighting fixtures, railings for circular staircases, etc. Leaded glass windows were provided by Neason Glass to Anhalt's specifications. (This information comes courtesy of "Apartments by Anhalt" by Lawrence Kreisman, City of Seattle, 1982.)
The Anhalt Arms, according to "The Hill with a Future" by Jacqueline B. Williams, was built in a hurry during one of Seattle's long wet seasons:
"The apartment on Fourteenth and John was built under a canvas tent to protect the workers from rain that never ceased. It went up in 43 days and was fully rented on opening day."
Kreisman tells us that "Anhalt had contracted for electrical workers to wire the building before the roof was up. Fire regulations required that there be a roof over the building before a wiring permit was approved. The inspector who surveyed [the tent] was puzzled but issued the permit because, as he put it, 'It doesn't say that the roof can't be canvas.'"
Anhalt was careful about details. Landscaping was provided with each building and Anhalt's company provided regular landscape care. In the back of the Anhalt Arms, facing south, there are small kitchen gardens off the back entries. Appliances, too, were offered - some units were even equipped with electric dishwashers.
Each summer the building has a spate of visitors from all over the world. One person, recently arrived from Bosnia, said that the place reminded him of places in his home city. People from other parts of Europe have echoed this sentiment. I always found this rather odd, since Fred Anhalt used design elements from many architectural styles so that each building represents his own unique style.
There are a number of other Anhalt "castles" on Capitol Hill including 710, 730 and 750 Belmont Ave. E.; 13th Ave. E. and E. Republican St.; 12th Ave. E. and E. John St.; 1516 E. Republican St.; 17th Ave. E. and E. Denny Way ( this one's a Mediterranean revival); 417 Harvard Ave. E.; 16th Ave. E. and E. John St. (no longer a residence). The two at 1005 and 1014 E. Roy St. are Seattle City landmarks.
Anhalt also designed and built the former Del-Teet Furniture Store on Broadway East and remodeled a building on Eastlake and East Fuhrman Street with the distinctive tower. He continued to work as a contractor and builder throughout Seattle until the 1940s and ran a nursery business near University Village until retiring in the 1970s.
Dotty DeCoster's Snapshot appears in the first issue of each month. Reach her at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.[[In-content Ad]]