6604 Lake Washington Blvd NE
Kirkland, WA, USA

National Register of Historic Places -Louis Marsh House

Statement of Significant:

The Louis Marsh House is the among the most architecturally significant residences along the eastern shore of Lake Washington, and is closely associated with the career of pioneer aviation engineer and philanthropist Louis Marsh. Built in 1929 and designed by Seattle architect Edwin Ivey, the Marsh house is an outstanding example of the suburban Period Revival styles of the era, and is distinguished by fine materials and handcrafted ornament. Although now hemmed in by high density development on the original grounds, the well- preserved house is well preserved, and remains an important remnant of Kirkland's history before the population boom of the post-World War II years.

Historic Background:
Louis Marsh was born in Neilsville, Wisconsin, in 1892, and moved to Washington in 1905, when his family bought waterfront property near the Lake Washington Shipyard just south of Kirkland. Kirkland was developed in the late 19th century by Englishman Peter Kirk and his associates (incorporated as the Kirkland Land and Improvement Company) who hoped to establish a giant steel mill and company town at the site. Land for the community was cleared in 1891 and 1892, after which engineers surveyed the site and laid out a town. In addition to houses, five brick commercial buildings were constructed in the center of Kirkland (of which three survive and are listed in the National Register). But the mill was crippled by the Depression of 1893, and by 1899, the last of the company's assets were sold.
The sale dashed hopes that the Kirkland area would become the "Pittsburgh of the West" but the town did not die. Several businesses, including a woolen mill started in 1892, continued to prosper and a shipyard at nearby Houghton was greatly enlarged in 1901 when it was sold to the Bartsch and Tompkins Transportation Company. In 1905, the town was incorporated as a third-class city; and in the following decades, it slowly evolved as a service center on the east side of Lake Washington, surrounded by small farms and a few suburban cottages. Ferry service provided the town with good connections to Seattle before the construction of bridges at mid-century, and the Lake Washington Ship Canal (completed in 1917) insured that Puget Sound ship traffic could reach Kirkland docks.
Like other modest residences in the area, the original Marsh family home, built in 1905, was a simple side gable frame cottage (now demolished), and the Marsh family.

kept horses and raised chickens on the property. Louis attended school in Kirkland and at Seattle's Broadway High School before entering the University of Washington, where he studied mechanical engineering. Upon graduating in 1917, Marsh was immediately hired by the fledgling Boeing Aircraft Company, founded the previous year. His starting job was as draftsman on the Model C twin-float seaplane, the firm's first production contract.
At Boeing, Marsh was part of the company's original engineering staff, which consisted of Marsh and two later presidents of the firm, Claire Egtvedt and Philip G. Johnson. Throughout his career, however, Marsh chose the metals lab over the executive suite, experimenting with materials and tools, and conducting endless tests on the metals and welding techniques that would soon revolutionize airplane construction. Within a decade, Marsh was an acknowledged (and largely self-taught) leader in the field of physical metallurgy, and was named chief metallurgist for the company at a time when metals were replacing wood and cloth in the design of aircraft.
Marsh played an instrumental role in many of the metallurgical breakthroughs that led to Boeing's dominance in the aviation industry. One of his most important early advances was establishing a process for arc-welding the light steel tubing used in the framework of the Boeing PW-9 pursuit plane of 1923. In the following years, Marsh established the rigorous materials standards, tests, and quality controls that were necessary as metal production increased in the 1920s. Finally, in 1930, Marsh pioneered the design of the Boeing Monomail, the first all-metal modern transport plane. But Marsh did not limit his expertise to Boeing's lab. His advice was sought by the entire industry, and according to newspaper reports, Marsh spent a large part of his early years with the company as a travelling trouble shooter, often working on specifications and drawings from hotel rooms. Marsh remained with the firm until World War II (during which period he corrected defects in the B-17) but retired in 1945 to pursue his many outside interests.
Marsh was a noted amateur musician, as well as a strong supporter of the Seattle Opera, the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Ballet, Children's Hospital, the University of Washington, and such local organizations as the Kirkland Senior Center and St. John's Episcopal Church. In 1974, he donated 300 feet of waterfront to the city for use as a park, and upon his death in 1980, he bequeathed his house to the Children's Home Society.

Marsh constructed his house at a time when other wealthy Seattle area residents were building large homes on the lakeshore and at other suburban locations. Other examples include the James G. Eddy House in Medina (1927; National Register, 1982) and the Miller Freeman House in Bellevue (1925; now demolished). With construction of the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge (1940), the Eastside was opened to more intensive development, and in the post-war years, new housing surged. Soon, formerly sparsely settled communities were incorporated as new suburban cities, including Bellevue, Medina, Yarrow Point, Hunts Point, and Clyde Hill. Suburbanization continued at a rapid pace in the 1970s and 1980s, and condominium construction transformed the appearance of Lake Washington Boulevard between Bellevue and Kirkland. Today, the Marsh House is one of the few grand houses remaining from the earlier era and, although the grounds are being subdivided, the house retains its significance as an important example of the 1920s Period Revivals.