Seattle Landmarks: Ellsworth Storey Houses (1902)

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Address: 260 and 270 Dorffel Drive E, Seattle. Seattle architect Ellsworth Storey (1879-1960) built one of these homes for himself and the smaller one for his parents in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood. They were arranged corner-to-corner; a roof garden connected the two. Storey was heavily influence by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie school and he utilized Northwest materials such as cedar shingles and beach rock.

The interior decoration uses straight milled woodwork to display the geometric shapes and patterns. The homes served to advertise Storey’s work and ultimately, he designed 60 homes in Seattle as well as larger buildings. Decades later, architect Victor Steinbrueck (1911-1985) designed a large deck which blended with the original structure. The roof garden became a glassed-in corridor. Richard Haag provided an update to the landscaping.

On December 21, 1976, the residences were named a Seattle Landmark because of their distinctive architectural style and the association with a prominent Seattle citizen.

Sources:
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Landmarks Preservation Board, 700 Third Avenue, 4th Floor, Seattle, Washington; Lawrence Kreisman, Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999), 68.

By Dave Wilma, April 27, 2001

This file made possible by:
The SCHOONER Project:
The Hon. Jan Drago
Seattle City Council
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods

Ellsworth Storey Houses, April 24, 2002
Photo by Alyssa Burrows

Ellsworth Storey Houses, n.d.
Illustration by Victor Steinbrueck, Courtesy Seattle Department of Neighborhoods