A Model Mansion on the Hill: Dr. Minor's Modern Estate
A look at the most elegant and technically advanced residence in late 1884 Seattle, perched with a commanding view of the bay.
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.
Overlooking the city and the bay, the Minor House, the residence of Dr. T. T. Minor, is situated on Twelfth Street, just south of Columbia. The site is magnificent, and the view of the city and bay is simply superb. The ground slopes gently for some distance in front of the building, and then drops off as the steeper incline is reached, it thus being impossible that the view should ever be interfered with. The appearance of the building from the outside is very attractive. A tasteful arrangement of porches and bay windows adds much to the general effect, and relieves the otherwise square style of architecture. The house is heated by furnace and is supplied with all modern conveniences; the sanitary arrangements are most perfect—indeed, so perfect that it is plainly apparent that in this department Doctor Minor himself has given many suggestions to the architect. In fact, the house is a model inside and out, and every citizen of Seattle, as well as its possessor, can feel proud of it.
“The house is a model inside and out, and every citizen of Seattle, as well as its possessor, can feel proud of it.”
While historic architecture like Dr. Minor’s residence often evokes a sense of permanence, Seattle’s skyline has cycled through several iterations since 1885. Today, 'the hill'—First Hill—is dense with modern high-rise hospital and residential complexes, contrasting sharply with the Gilded Age mansions that once defined the neighborhood’s aesthetic.
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