Knickerbocker is a historic Beaux Arts building in the Cliff/Cannon neighborhood of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. It was designed by architect

Albert Held Albert Held (March 25, 1866 – 1924) was an American architect. He was born in New Ulm, Minnesota on March 25, 1866, and studied for two years at the University of Minnesota. He first worked as a draftsman Held moved to Spokane, Washington afte ...

and was built in 1911. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987. The building is also listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places, under the name Knickerbocker Apartments.

History

The Knickerbocker was financed by local civic leader and mining magnate Graham B. Dennis at a price of $200,000 in 1911. Architect Albert Held, who designed many other luxury apartment buildings of the day, was expected to produce the “finest apartment house west of New York.” At the time of construction, Spokane was experiencing a population surge as well as an accompanying housing shortage. Prior to 1900, "apartment homes" did not exist in Spokane. Middle and upper class residents owned property, while lower and working class residents lived largely in rental units at hotels, commercial buildings and boarding houses. The Knickerbocker, along with three other buildings designed by Held —

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...

and Breslin — were the first apartment homes designed for middle and upper class tenants. However, there was still a stigma against apartment homes for middle and upper class residents, so early designs that of the Knickerbocker took on the appearance of a grand hotel or exclusive club to help disguise their true purpose. When the building opened in 1911 it was hailed as the grandest apartment home in the city, and its units rented for higher prices than any others in Spokane. Residents had access to an in-house porter, chef and servants, for whom there were quarters in the building. By the end of the 20th century and start of the 21st, however, the building had lost its original grandeur and fell into disrepair. Graffiti marked the outside walls and squatters lived inside them. In 2010, owners Eric and Mary Braden took over and began renovating the building. Additional resources for preservation were allocated in 2015 when the building was named to the Spokane Historic Register. That same year, the Bradens were honored by Spokane Preservation Advocates with an award honoring their restoration and preservation work on Knickerbocker. The Bradens sold Knickerbocker to local developer Rob Brewster in 2018 for $2.7 million.

Description

Knickerbocker is a three-story, H-shaped building made of red brick with

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

trim. with There are two courtyards inside the wings of the H-shape. The front courtyard is where the main entrance is located while the rear courtyard is a walled-off garden. The building is three stories tall plus a basement, which on the north side of the building is a daylight basement at street level due to the slope of Howard Street. The west side of the building, where the main entrance is located, has a highly embellished facade. The entrance itself is located within a portico with fluted columns of the

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

. The north face, along Fifth Avenue, also has a highly embellished facade. A cream colored terra cotta basement level with daylight windows extends along Fifth Avenue with red brick and terra cotta embellishment above. There are recessed balconies on the first, second and third stories which are flanked by, on the second and third stories, oriel windows which match those facing the front courtyard on the west face. The east face, part of which abuts an adjacent apartment building, and the south face, which looks out upon an alley, are plain red brick with little embellishment. Knickerbocker_Entrance.png, Detail view of the main entrance Knickerbocker Fire Escape.png, Balconies and fire escape on the north face Knickerbocker Wide View.png, Broad view of Knickerbocker from the northwest

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Beaux-Arts architecture in Washington (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1911 Buildings and structures in Spokane, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Spokane, Washington