Aug 22, 1977
National Register of Historic Places - R. D. Merrill House
Statement of Significant: The Harvard Avenue property developed by R. D. Merrill between 1909 and 1910 is significant to the city of Seattle and Washington State as an intact example of fashionable house and garden architecture by New York architect Charles A. Platt. Platt ranked with Wilson Eyre, Charles Barton Keene, John Russell Pope, Cope and Stewardson and others of their ilk in formulating a kind of country-house architecture which, owing to its utility in spatial organization, its expressive use of native materials and its harmonious integration with the setting, was felt by architectural critics of the day to have achieved a distinctly American character. Like all those identified with the so-called "rational modern movement" Platt worked in several idioms including the Jacobethan, but he was best known for his work in the Georgian vein. The R. D. Merrill House is a choice example of his stately homes in the Colonial Revival Style. Its significance is enhanced by the fact that, down to the furnishings, the initial concept has remained unaltered to the present day. Moreover, a complete set of original plans and drawings is stored on the premises. No statistical survey of the extant work of Charles Platt is known to exist, but, in addition to campus and apartment buildings, art museums and other work, Platt is said to have designed over a hundred houses across the country. They are found chiefly in the East: in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut; in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. On the West Coast, Seattle claims two of his houses, and, of the two projects, the estate of R. D. Merrill was the first to be undertaken. Richard Dwight Merrill arrived in Washington State in 1898 as an executive of the Merrill and Ring Lumber Company formed by his family in Michigan. He directed the company's expansion in the Pacific Northwest and, with his wife, took a prominent part in community affairs from the time he settled in Seattle in 1903. St. Nicholas School, a leading private school in Seattle, had its beginnings at 919 Harvard Avenue. The Merrill daughters and other children of the neighborhood were educated there for a time until separate facilities were established for the school. The Merrills resided in the house until 1938. Following his wife's death in that year, Merrill moved to a downtown hotel suite and made the house avail- able for the fund-raising events of charitable and educational organizations. Since 1964 the property has been impeccably maintained by the Merrills' daughters in association with the R. D. Merrill Foundation. Platt also designed a house for lumberman Thomas D. Stimson in Seattle's exclusive residential section known as The Highlands. William Platt, one of Platt's sons and successors in the firm, designed a home in The Highlands for Edward Garrett. The present- day architectural firm still under the title Charles A. Platt, is located at 12 East 44th Street in New York City.
National Register of Historic Places - R. D. Merrill House
Statement of Significant: The Harvard Avenue property developed by R. D. Merrill between 1909 and 1910 is significant to the city of Seattle and Washington State as an intact example of fashionable house and garden architecture by New York architect Charles A. Platt. Platt ranked with Wilson Eyre, Charles Barton Keene, John Russell Pope, Cope and Stewardson and others of their ilk in formulating a kind of country-house architecture which, owing to its utility in spatial organization, its expressive use of native materials and its harmonious integration with the setting, was felt by architectural critics of the day to have achieved a distinctly American character. Like all those identified with the so-called "rational modern movement" Platt worked in several idioms including the Jacobethan, but he was best known for his work in the Georgian vein. The R. D. Merrill House is a choice example of his stately homes in the Colonial Revival Style. Its significance is enhanced by the fact that, down to the furnishings, the initial concept has remained unaltered to the present day. Moreover, a complete set of original plans and drawings is stored on the premises. No statistical survey of the extant work of Charles Platt is known to exist, but, in addition to campus and apartment buildings, art museums and other work, Platt is said to have designed over a hundred houses across the country. They are found chiefly in the East: in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut; in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. On the West Coast, Seattle claims two of his houses, and, of the two projects, the estate of R. D. Merrill was the first to be undertaken. Richard Dwight Merrill arrived in Washington State in 1898 as an executive of the Merrill and Ring Lumber Company formed by his family in Michigan. He directed the company's expansion in the Pacific Northwest and, with his wife, took a prominent part in community affairs from the time he settled in Seattle in 1903. St. Nicholas School, a leading private school in Seattle, had its beginnings at 919 Harvard Avenue. The Merrill daughters and other children of the neighborhood were educated there for a time until separate facilities were established for the school. The Merrills resided in the house until 1938. Following his wife's death in that year, Merrill moved to a downtown hotel suite and made the house avail- able for the fund-raising events of charitable and educational organizations. Since 1964 the property has been impeccably maintained by the Merrills' daughters in association with the R. D. Merrill Foundation. Platt also designed a house for lumberman Thomas D. Stimson in Seattle's exclusive residential section known as The Highlands. William Platt, one of Platt's sons and successors in the firm, designed a home in The Highlands for Edward Garrett. The present- day architectural firm still under the title Charles A. Platt, is located at 12 East 44th Street in New York City.
Aug 22, 1977
Posted Date
Jul 19, 2023
Historical Record Date
Aug 22, 1977
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
