Historic Seattle offers a guided tour of historic First Hill with the participation of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. This neighborhood was the location of private clubs, important religious institutions, and swank hotels. It was also the city’s premier residential enclave from the 1890s through the first decades of the 1900s—home to mayors, judges, industrialists, timber barons, and art collectors. Tours include a number of buildings that have been saved because of Historic Seattle’s involvement, including the H.H. Dearborn House, Stimson-Green Mansion, Bel-Boy Apartments, Heg-Phillips House, and Fire Station 25. Additional buildings, such as the Hofius and van Buren Stacy residences, Piedmont Hotel (now Tuscany Apartments), Summit School (now Northwest School), First Baptist Church, the Sorrento Hotel, and luxury apartment buildings provide insights into over a century of architecture and interior design. Some interiors included when available.

Meet in the lobby of the Madison Medical Office Tower, 1101 Madison Street at Boren Avenue. Guided tours conclude in the Fireside Lounge of the Sorrento Hotel where participants enjoy happy hour prices on appetizers and drinks.  Please note that certain spaces are not completely accessible.

This program is SOLD OUT.

Want to learn even more about First Hill? Order Historic Seattle’s definitive history, Tradition and Change on Seattle’s First Hill: Propriety, Profanity, Pills, and Preservation (Documentary Media, 2014). Available at https://historicseattle.org/first-hill/ or by calling (206) 622-6952, ext. 221.