The Controversial Residences of Robert Reichert
Jeffrey Murdock Speaks about Robert Reichert
Wednesday, October 25, 6:00 – 7:15 pm.
Queen Anne branch of Seattle Public Library
400 W. Garfield St.
Robert Reichert Residence. Looking northeast. Photo: Leanne Goulding, QAHS, 2023
There is nothing on Queen Anne quite like the Robert Reichert Residence at W. Smith St. and Third Ave. W. In fact, you might say that about all of Seattle. Designed and built in 1953-54, the distinctive shape and decorative features of this house make it stand out from Third Avenue’s early 20th c. bungalows just as it is different from the spread-eagle roman brick ranch houses of its period. To box the house into the period of its design does a huge disservice to Reichert, one of Seattle’s most original architects of all time. It is no exaggeration to say that Reichert’s residences popped when they went up and still pop today.
Reichert Residence in 1955, also looking northeast. Photo: Richard Haag (Landscape Architect of Gas Works Park). Compare landscape, steps, entrance and that telephone pole!
The recent work on our Queen Anne example whose fantastic entrance and recreated paint job make it one of the most sensitive restorations of a historic house (well over 50 years old, it meets the National Register for Historic Places standard) in the neighborhood. It is also fair to say that the house remains a controversial design about which folks still argue. I find that amazing and more reason to attend Jeff Murdock’s talk on October 26 at the Queen Anne branch of the Seattle Public Library.
Murdock, who as a member of the Landmark Preservation Board developed a reputation as one of the staunchest defenders of the city’s historic fabric, continues to hone his skills as Historic Seattle’s Preservation Advocacy Manager. His talk about Reichert’s life and residential work is rooted in photographs, drawings, notes, and ephemera from the Reichert Collection at University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. In addition to a Master of Architecture, Murdock completed a MS in Architectural History and Theory, with his archive research-based thesis focused on the career and work of Robert Reichert.
Reichert began practicing architecture in Seattle in 1953, a time of vibrant architectural investigation in the Puget Sound region, broadly described as Pacific Northwest Regional Modernism. Reichert, however, took an alternate path, focused on romanticism in art and design. He learned to design and to play the organ at a very young age and developed strong ideas about the meaning of architecture. The residences that Reichert created, ranging from the provocative house-studio on Queen Anne for himself, his mother, and his pipe organ, to the many houses designed primarily for women clients, help tell the story of this iconoclastic artist-architect who remains a unique figure in Seattle’s modern architectural history.
We hope you join us for this FREE event! The in-person program takes place in the ground floor meeting room of the Queen Anne branch of Seattle Public Library (Wednesday, October 25 from 6:00 – 7:15 pm). Attendance for this first come, first served event is limited to 78 people, so arriving early (between 5:45 and 6:00 pm) will make sure you have a seat. There is no on-line registration due to library policies that do not allow registration. We can probably thank Benjamin Franklin for that!
Robert Reichert Residence. The rehabilitated entrance based on Reichert designs. Looking northwest. Photo: Leanne Goulding, QAHS, 2023