Classic Apartments - The Biltmore

Is that a new coat of paint on the Biltmore?  Ignoring the fact that this building more closely resembled a tenement during the 20th century, this building was actually quite hip and swanky for 19th century Tacoma – at least for a year or two.

The Biltmore was originally called ‘The New York’ when it was completed in 1889 at the corner of North 8th and I Street.  At the time Tacoma was an up and coming city and the Biltmore represented a very fashionable new type of residence.  Apartment buildings as a desirable type of housing was a relatively new concept having started in Paris and London before heading to New York in the later part of the 19th century.  In my mind apartments have been around forever.  But in the history of our country, the apartment unit as a desirable middle or upper class home didn’t gain momentum until the early 20th century.   

The architect, F.A. Sexton, designed a wood frame building three stories tall with four towers and a flat top roof. It originally had a mere seven apartments with ten rooms each plus servants quarters in the basement. Each apartment had one bathroom – a nearly unheard of luxury for an apartment at the time – on its second floor. Think about this for a moment.  This is a big building that now has thirty something units in it.  Originally it had just seven units total.  These huge luxury apartments that were bigger than many of the homes in the area (including mine – built in 1888) were split up by the mid 1890s. 

Poor timing doomed the building as it was completed shortly before the 1893 depression.  Over the years the units were split, then split again.  Decks rotted away and turrets disappeared. I’ve looked around the city for some of the other early apartment buildings, but this is the only significant one left.  Most of the other wood framed apartment buildings were knocked down long ago and the classic apartments we see throughout Stadium District and downtown appeared in the teens and twenties.  I don’t expect to see the building brought back to its 1889 glory, but a fresh coat of paint and a clean awning may make it look better than it has in decades. 

Note:  I have a lot of random trivia about these buildings in my head.  My hope is to share a bit of it here so that you can spout out random trivia as well.  If there’s a particular house or building you’re interested in, please ask.  Otherwise, I’ll write as I have the time.