Every building tells a story: Got any stories about this one?


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“Minxie” first posted about this in the WSB Forums – looking for more people with stories to tell about that beautiful 82-year-old brick apartment building in Gatewood, at 7101 California SW. (If you’ve been to Caffe Ladro, or Gatewood Elementary, you’ve probably noticed this at the California/Myrtle corner. That’s the Google Street View above; conventional map linked here.)

Your memories, thoughts and history are needed! … It is an amazing group of folks that live here & we treasure our building and little corner community. Almost everyone I meet knows our building as well, and has stories to share. I’m gathering everything I can about the building’s past – personal memories, pictures, history, rumors, former residents, any contribution at all. Nothing is too minute or inconsequential. For instance, I recently met someone from outside Seattle, and when conversation turned to where I live, he exclaimed “I know that building! I would walk past it every day on my way to school. I loved it!” He had lived in WS 20+ yrs ago and still remembered. So cool.

My request to y’all is twofold 1) Of course, to preserve history, and 2) Holiday gifts! I’m compiling everything I can to make memory books for my fellow neighbors and landlords (who rock!) this holiday season.

The building has its own page in the city historical archives, but it has only a black/white photo and little more. (We originally found it when writing about a change on that corner in summer 2006.) In a followup exchange, Minxie also told us:

The owners, Galina and Lance Betz, have done a *phenomenal job* in not only preserving the building’s character but in fostering the community we have here. They really are West Seattle heroes IMO. Plus, they are doggie friendly, and I can’t tell you how great it is to have impromptu doggie meet-ups throughout the day, where we neighbors chat and the pups play.

If you have any stories/info/memorabilia to share about 7101 California SW, please e-mail Minxie at: 7104caliavegalore@gmail.com

12 Replies to "Every building tells a story: Got any stories about this one?"

  • el_grego November 29, 2008 (4:44 pm)

    That’s an apartment building? I always thought it would have made a great pub.

  • Jerald November 29, 2008 (5:22 pm)

    I’ve been wondering what happened to the person(s) who lived there for so long with all the beautiful plants on the corner. It looks sadly bare now.

  • Sam November 29, 2008 (6:13 pm)

    My friends and I use to RUN by this place on our way to school. We thought it was haunted because my grandmother would tell us the story of a murder-suicide that left 4 people dead in one of the apartments in 1943. This place still gives me the creeps to the point where I usually drive 5 blocks out of my way just to avoid it.

  • Bonnie November 29, 2008 (6:21 pm)

    I was just going to post about the plants. I haven’t seen them for awhile.

  • Cheri November 29, 2008 (8:02 pm)

    My 2nd cousin Telayah use to Live in the corner one, She was the one with all the plants and she lived there for many years…. Her and the plants now reside in Lynnwood, or so my mom tells me !

  • JanS November 29, 2008 (10:08 pm)

    Interesting…I never knew that “vernacular” is a style of building. I’ve been going to The Country Doctor Clinic for years…they’re listed as the same style…the things you learn when you least expect it.

  • WS pet lover November 29, 2008 (10:54 pm)

    Did the renter who kept the plants move?

  • WSB November 29, 2008 (11:36 pm)

    The link in our story above goes to my ramble about the plants suddenly disappearing … more than two years ago … seems like yesterday.

  • Todd November 29, 2008 (11:48 pm)

    I think it is great that someone cares about the building and the history. I lived on Gatewood just a few blocks from there but don’t have anything to add besides walking and driving by. I wish more people cared like myself and Minxie about Vintage West Seattle and history in general. We have lost a lot of great places the past 4 or 5 years to “development.” Shame. WS doesn’t need to level bulding to become a better place that it already is. As far as I am concerned, it’s just an excuse.

  • Vlad November 30, 2008 (5:34 pm)

    I’ve heard that the building is related to street car line that used to turn onto Myrtle, for employees perhaps, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. The building on the other side of Myrtle (now a mortgage broker) was Lloyd’s Dry Goods, and across that on California was a spring from which people used to draw drinking water from (there was a good historic photo with that information in the window of the toy train station in the Junction). The hillside is still wet in that spot despite all efforts in draining the spring into storm drains.

  • marielle November 30, 2008 (5:58 pm)

    I went to 6th grade at Gatewood and used to walk home past that building every day. I always hoped I’d grow up and become a renter there – I’ve liked old architecture since I was a kid. Instead when I grew up, I left Seattle. Now, many years later, I’m thinking of moving back – maybe I’ll get my chance to live there after all!

    I remember one day while walking home from school, I passed the apartment and a woman living there asked me if I wanted a kitten. Of course I did – so I took one of her kittens and told my mom “it followed me home!”

  • Regan Marti December 1, 2008 (8:39 am)

    I lived there in the early 90’s in two different units. I had the corner one for quite awhile. I’m pretty sure the plant lady was the tenant after me. When I lived there both times, it was owned by an older man named Horace Eaton. Very nice guy. He would often be seen puttering around. Then my now husband & I lived in the studio accessible through the back. There was another tenant there @ the time that kept a gorgeous flower garden. We loved both units. When it got too hot in the summer, we would walk down to Lincoln Park & go to the pool after work. It was a great location & a great building. I’m glad to hear that people love it as much as we did.

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