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Historic condo with hot tub terrace asks $869K in Capitol Hill

Modern updates don’t sacrifice a century-old aesthetic—and vice-versa

By Sarah Anne Lloyd
A fireplace with a tapered top and a mantel partway up, with built-in shelves on either side. Two chairs and a coffee table are in front. Photos by Gregory White/courtesy of Edward Krigsman

Find a 1920s condo with a well-preserved floorplan and you’ll have a posh-feeling space that rivals many a standalone house. This 1922 two-bedroom home in north Capitol Hill’s Laurabell building retains the aesthetic and open, formal spaces of its original George Stoddard design, but with a bevy of thoughtful updates and newer finishes that add modern convenience while helping the original archways and millwork pop.

Stoddard would go on to become a modernist in the 1940s, which is maybe why this home takes so well to a combination of ornate and sleek. Still, its filled to the brim with some of the prettiest trends of 1920s Seattle: Open archways keep common areas open, but separate, from a peaked portal from the foyer to the living area to a light-filled sunroom. A Mission-style fireplace, flanked by built-ins, sits opposite a full wall of bookcases. The kitchen boasts versatile cabinetry for both display and storage. A recessed wardrobe in the master both saves space and adds a vintage flair.

Upgrades were worked in over the years, not forced in, laundry in a built-in hallway closet, quartz countertops worked into period-appropriate cabinetry, but there is one showstopper of a modern addition: Off the master, a large terrace surrounded by trees offers a level of space you’d expect from a backyard, with a party-ready design that includes built-in planters and benches and even a hot tub platform.

1112 Broadway East Unit 201 is asking $869,000 through Windermere Real Estate.

Through a wide archway, a room with window banks lining the far, left, and right walls. Two large navy chairs face a gray couch with a coffee table in between.
Separated from the living room by a large arch, a more intimate sitting area gets three full walls of natural light.
Over the top of a gray couch, a full wall of white shelves with gray backing. To the left, a gray armchair has a freestanding reading light above. To the right, the edge of a window shows brick wall.
A full wall of built-in shelving lends a library aesthetic to the formal living room.
A room with pale yellow walls, white trim, and hardwood floors. A cased opening to the right leads to a hallway area, and an open door in the back leads to a kitchen. Windows line the left wall, with sheer white curtains and a deep sill.
A formal dining area retains cove ceilings and thick, baseboard moulding for a classic—but versatile—look.
A kitchen with pale yellow walls and white cabinetry. A center island has a built-in gas stove and a metal vent fan above. The far and right walls have white tile counters and white cabinets. A white display cabinet to the left has a quartz counter.
The kitchen makes no compromises for space, and fits in plenty of modern upgrades without detracting from a 1920s aesthetic.
A bedroom with pale yellow walls, white trim, and a bed in the center along a far wall. To the left, a white built-in wardrobe and a small window. To the right, a glass door leading to an outdoor area.
The building’s modulation gives the master bedroom light from both a window by the built-ins and French doors to the terrace.
A wooden deck surrounded by concrete planters with small evergreen hedges with a larger evergreen tree in the background. In the back left corner, a hot tub surrounded by wood with wood steps.
A outdoor terrace has wood decking with built-in benches—and is spacious enough to have a hot tub without being remotely crowded.

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