The True Cost of Building a Home in 1889 Seattle
While real estate developers and contractors debated the rising cost of labor and imported building supplies, one carpenter showed that a home could be built for a mere $150.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In a humble but comfortable-looking little house on a side street, the reporter knocked on the door. A neat little housewife opened the summons. 'The house, it cost $150,' she said. 'My husband, who is a carpenter, built it himself. You see we papered it with old newspapers and we get along very nicely.' It is square and small, with but one window and one door, but a happier heart and a more contented face than that found in that unpretentious dwelling could not be found in all the city.
“You see we papered it with old newspapers and we get along very nicely.”
This 1889 snapshot captures the birth of the Seattle housing affordability debate. Much like today, the era saw a scramble to build quickly—relying on cheaper materials like cedar and rustic siding—while local workers struggled with the irony that the very people building the city's homes could barely afford to live in them.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.