One of my favorite trips this summer was a trip I made to Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. We aimed for Moran State Park, sure to find good beaches, trails, and campgrounds. We did, but we also found something else: a historic mansion tucked along the coast, known… Read More Extravagant Art in Improbable Places
Labor Day may be best known these days as the last breath of summer, that last three-day weekend before we dive into fall, made for last beach trips and barbecues. However, the holiday that gives us this three-day weekend was created with another intent: to recognize the labor movement and the achievements of the American… Read More National Park Feature: Pullman National Monument
The Pioneer Building is located at the south end of downtown Seattle in the aptly named Pioneer Square neighborhood. Pioneer Square was once the heart of Seattle and due to the shift of downtown to the north, the neighborhood has retained a number of historic buildings. Several blocks around the Pioneer Building make up the Pioneer Square-Skid… Read More Building Feature: Seattle’s Pioneer Building
The arches found over entrances of many old buildings are often set apart from the building both stylistically and structurally. Sometimes they symbolically announce the building you’re entering, and sometimes literally. And in the case of a number of historic arches across the country, they have outlived their buildings. The first case of this that I knew… Read More When All That Remains is an Arch
Chicago is an architecture enthusiast’s dream city. From Burnham & Root and the White City, to Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School, to the glass skyscrapers of Mies van der Rohe, a dozen nationally-significant trends had a role or got their start in the Windy City. I visited Chicago again recently and, as always, I couldn’t… Read More Building Feature: Chicago’s Fisher Building
The Nuclear Reactor Building on the University of Washington Campus has been fighting hard for nearly two years, and following a controversial Superior Court ruling in favor of the University, the building’s future is looking bleak. The judge ruled that, as the University is an educational institution, it does not need to comply with Seattle’s… Read More Saying Goodbye to the Nuclear Reactor Building
An 11 year-old recently asked me, “how can you tell how old a house is?” It’s a good question, and I was thinking back on it for the rest of the day, wondering if I had answered it the best way. The truth is, it’s complex. Of course I am often checking my field guide,… Read More When Houses Look Alike
Leavenworth is a little piece of Germany in Washington’s North Cascades… except that it’s not. Not German, that is. So what’s the story? Leavenworth, located at the confluence of the Wenatchee River and Icicle Creek with craggy mountains rising to the west, began as a log cabin settlement in the late nineteenth century. Mining, logging,… Read More The German Town That Isn’t German
I’ve had a soft spot for Modern architecture since I studied the Modern library in downtown Reno, Nevada. On my recent visit to Hat ‘n Boots Park south of Seattle, this bank caught my eye and I’ve been thinking about bank architecture ever since (just ask my brother, I kept getting distracted by banks during my… Read More Modern Architecture and Banks
Last week I attended the Revitalize Washington Conference in beautiful Chelan, WA. I got to see some old friends and old buildings, I met some great people, and I came away with some great new knowledge and inspiration. And of course I have to share! Read on for my top five take-aways (which apply to Washington and… Read More Revitalize WA: Top Five Take-Aways
Susie Trexler 