I was leafing through some old documents and found this nice little mid-rise apartment building called “The Roycroft.” As usual, I wondered if it was still around —
I did not remember seeing it from the days when I lived on Cap Hill.
Turns out, it is still around. This is a great time to check out that rad new Google Maps street view feature (here’s
the link). This old photo shows The Roycroft when it was new in 1906/
1907 — notice the lack of landscaping.
Unfortunately, the Mission-style parapets are now gone… as are the tops of the corner turrets. Click on the thumbnail for higher-res.
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| The Roycroft. An excellent example of strictly high grade, exclusive, restricted apartment building, corner Harvard Avenue and Thomas Street. Built by Mr. E.B. Roy in 1906. The Argus, 1907. |
Yeah its still there. I had a friend that lived there several years ago. The whole building inside was a total gross, roach infested dump.
That’s ashame. It looks like an architecurally important building. Too much so to be a dump.
Way to go with the Google Street View link. Really enhances the experience of looking at the Then and Now, doesn’t it?
Keep up the good work and thanks for the mention of the AYP on the SPL website.
Re: didi
this building doesn’t look architecturally important to me… there are a ton of apartment buildings on Capitol Hill that look just like that..
Here’s an image from an angle a little more similar to the old photo. Makes it much more apparent what features have been lost.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_Roycroft_Apartments_03.jpg
I have not once seen a roach in the Roycroft, for the record, and I’ve lived here for over 3 years.
That said, it is a little run-down now, but it’s a beautiful building.
Does anyone have any photos or know where to go to find out what the inside of the building looked like when it was first built?
I lived in this building two years ago and I too never saw a roach and loved living there. The architecture inside was beautiful and unique. We had 9 foot ceilings and bay windows. The landlord said that it was an old hotel and there were traces of it’s history thoughout the whole apartment. I would live there again in a second!
This place sucks. People steal out of the laundry room, it’s noisy and it’s always dirty. It’s old and run down. It does have a very unique layout but all that is ruined when you hear neighbor’s partying during the weekday nights, construction during the daytime, people yelling as they stumble in drunk off the streets and people have sex in various locations. Management does NOTHING about noise complaints. No matter how many you make on the same person. Can’t wait to get out of here.
I have had my clothes stolen. The manger is lazy has everyone else do his work for him. I’ve complained on numerous occasions about the.obscene level of bass coming from the apartment below me at all hours of the day and night. Nothing gets done. I can’t wait to.get out of here. Reasonably priced dump if you’re into parties and noise.