Be Your Own Landlord: The 1889 Dream of Homeownership
An early Seattle building society promised a path to middle-class stability, urging residents to stop paying rent and start buying into their own homes.
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.
Seattle Building and Loan Association. Capital Stock: $1,000,000. $150,000 loaned in thirty-four months to build houses. Be your own landlord. Don't pay rent. Take stock in the sixth series, and in six years your house will be paid for. Patronize home companies.
“Be your own landlord. Don't pay rent.”
In 1889, as Seattle expanded rapidly, the 'Building and Loan' model was a radical attempt to democratize capital for working families. Today, that aspiration for homeownership remains a central pillar of the city's identity, even as skyrocketing housing costs and speculative land deals have made the dream significantly more elusive than it was in the late 19th century.
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