AKA: Lairmont Manor, Edgemoor, Bellingham, WA; Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, Sisters of Saint Joseph, Novitiate, Edgemoor, Bellingham, WA

Structure Type: built works - dwellings - houses

Designers: Bebb and Gould, Architects (firm); Charles Herbert Bebb ; Carl Freylinghausen Gould Sr. (architect)

Dates: constructed 1914-1915

2 stories

405 Fieldstone Road
Bellingham, WA 98225-7864

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Renowned Seattle architect Carl Gould, Sr., (1873-1939) designed this extensive, 25-room residence for Charles Xavier Larrabee (1843–1914), a wealthy businessman who had banking, coal mining and real estate interests in Roslyn, WA, and Bellingham, WA. Along with railroad builder and investor Nelson Bennett (born 10/14/1843 in Toronto, ON, Canada), the "father" of Tacoma, Larrabee, created the Fairhaven Land Company which platted the City of Fairhaven in 1888. Larrabee also founded the Citizen's Bank of Bellingham. Before arriving in Bellingham in the late 1880s, he struck it rich developing the Mountain View Copper Mine outside of Butte, MT. Larrabee died on 09/16/1914, before construction began on the house; his wife, Frances Payne Larrabee, completed the dwelling and lived there until her demise on 06/11/1941. The Sisters of Saint Joseph obtained title to the property after Mrs. Larrabee's death, and used it as a novitiate before selling it in 1961. Thereafter, the house and grounds became a non-profit trusteeship and a favorite place for the hosting of weddings.

The long, rectangular residence had had a masonry facade with with prominent quoins. A porte cochere stood on the rectangle's north end, leading to a main entryway. Architect Gould gave the Jacobethan-influenced design a parapeted hipped roof, an unusual configuration; this parapeted hipped roof was used later for English Regency houses. A writer for the City of Bellingham noted about the house: "Both the exterior and the interior of the Larrabee house show a European influence. In fact, much of the work on the house was crafted in Europe and then brought over. The finished woodwork was shipped to the site from Italy; the impressive glass doors and ironwork were imported from Belgium, and European artist's hand-painted portions of the wood wainscoting. The Larrabee house also includes innovative features such as a telephone intercom system, and a central vacuum pump with outlets in each room. Underground in the yard are a sprinkler system and a gasoline tank and pumps. In 1996 an 800 square foot pavilion was added to the back yard to better facilitate out door gatherings." (See "Charles X. Larrabee House Lairmont Manor (1914-1915) 405 Fieldstone Road,"Accessed 04/17/2012.)

National Register of Historic Places (May 30, 1975): 75001880 NRHP Images (pdf) NHRP Registration Form (pdf)

PCAD id: 9376