Fred Anhalt
Encyclopedia
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who constructed many distinguished apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
buildings in Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Capitol Hill is the most densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the center of the city's gay and counterculture communities, and is one of the city's most prominent nightlife and entertainment districts....
in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1993, the Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
(AIA) awarded Anhalt an honorary membership.
After a career as a salesman, Anhalt and partner Jerome B. Hardcastle, a former butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, built the Western Building & Leasing Company in 1925, though he had no training as an architect.
He was known for constructing bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
-style apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s and giving them luxurious architectural touches, such as Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
stylings. They are often oriented around a central courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. After the Depression, his firm went bankrupt and Anhalt was forced to design smaller scale projects. He ultimately left the field in 1942.
Lawrence Kreisman, in his booklet, Apartments by Anhalt, says:
"What made Anhalt's buildings succeed is not their particular style or size, or complexity. It is the style of living encouraged therein -- the creation, through design, of an enclosed community that, while it relates to the street and neighborhood, also provides a common green, an outdoor living room that is the sole province of the tenants."
Buildings in Seattle
- Anhalt Arms
- Twin Gables
- Belmont Court
- Oak Manor
- "Ten-O-Five", which featured Seattle's first underground parking deck for an apartment building
- East Roy Street (1929-1930)