Fire Station #25

Address: 1400 Harvard Avenue
Date Built: 1909
Original Architect/Builder: Somervell and Cote.
Original Owners: City of Seattle.
Description: First brick fire house in Seattle. Characteristic arched windows and doorways. Although this was the first fire station in Seattle to be assigned motor driven fire engines, it was originally designed for horse-drawn engines.

 

Historic Seattle's Role:

Fire Station #25 / HistoricSeattle Archives

After being declared surplus by the City of Seattle, the Fire Station was transferred to Historic Seattle in 1979, which in turn sold it to Commonwealth Pacific with a protective easement. The fire station was decommissioned as a fire house in 1970. At the time of the 1979 sale the structure was in poor condition. The roof leaked, and an interior load bearing wall had been removed. After complete renovation of the exterior and adaptive remodeling of the interior into condominiums, the building reopened in December 1980, creating 16 townhouse units. Stickney-Murphy was project architect.

 

Current and Future Uses:

Fire Station #25 / Photo: Marissa Natkin

Fire Station No. 25 continues to stand as another example of the successful union of historic rehabilitation and adaptive economic reuse. It gained Official City of Seattle Landmark status on December 21, 1976 (Ord. #106054) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.