520 East Denny Way
Seattle, WA, USA

Ward House (Seattle)

The Ward House is a house on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington, USA. Having been built in 1882, it is one of the oldest houses in Seattle. Existing houses reportedly built before 1882 in Seattle include the 2629 East Aloha Street (1881), 727 28th Avenue (1870) and Maynard's House located at 3045 64th Avenue Southwest (approximately 1860 ± 2 years).

The building, originally at 1427 Boren Avenue, was designed, built and originally owned by George W. Ward. In 1962, the architect Victor Steinbrueck wrote of it, "…this fanciful example of residential Victorian carpenter Gothic, one of the most interesting and apparently sound of the rare few remaining… could be made delightfully attractive by sympathetic preservation…"

Nonetheless, it became vacant in 1974 and was scheduled for demolition in the mid-1980s. The owners, Dr. and Mrs. Michael Buckley, donated the structure to Historic Seattle, a nonprofit architectural preservation organization chartered as a public development authority by the city. Historic Seattle in turn sold it to David Leen, a local lawyer, for $7,500. On 6 April 1986, Leen moved the Ward House from its First Hill lot on Boren Avenue between Union and Pike Streets to its current location at the corner of E. Denny Way and Belmont Avenue E. Leen worked to restore the building using fixtures and furniture from the original time period. The building was occupied by Leen's law office, as well as several other solo practices, until 2016. It is now owned and occupied by Tola Capital, LLC, who have since modernized the interior fixtures and décor, and opted to repaint the exterior, leading to some controversial opinions throughout the community.

Besides being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is also an official City of Seattle landmark.

National Register of Historic Places - Ward House (Seattle)

Statement of Significance:

This home was built by Mr. and Mrs. George, Jt. Jlard. Mr. Ward was in insurance, real estate, and loans. He was also a founder and active in the Japanese Baptist Mission for 26 years.

The land was purchased in 1883 and the Wards lived there until after 1893• It later passed into real estate hands, and about was sold for hotel development.

To make way for a brick building, the Crest Hotel on Pike, it was turned 90 degrees on its lot, to face Boren Avenue.

The home was divided into accommodations for eight lodgers and is an annex to the Crest Hotel.

It is one of the very few such examples left in-Seattle the only noteworthy one in the downtown areas. It is within walking distance of tourists staying in any of the several major hotels.