OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Overview

The Austin and Katherine Benham Corbin House was done in the then-modern Colonial Revival style, featuring a prominent, projecting, two-story portico, a favorite motif of wealthy families eager to communicate their affluence and taste.

Building History

Austin E. Corbin (born 09/24/1863 in Denver, CO--d. 01/02/1945 in Spokane, WA) was the son of the railroad entrepreneur and mining magnate Daniel Chase Corbin (born 10/01/1832 in Newport, NH-d. 06/29/1918 in Spokane, WA), one of Spokane's wealthiest men. Austin was referred to as "Austin E. Corbin II," named in honor of Daniel's father, Austin Corbin (born 11/28/1791 in Sommers, CT-d. 06/14/1876 in NH). He actually was the third male Corbin with this name, as his father also had a brother named Austin Corbin (1827-1896).

Daniel Chase Corbin commissioned a residence in the fashionable South Hill neighborhood in 1896 from the Spokane's leading architect, Kirtland Cutter. Cutter led the design effort of South Hill, offering input on street layouts and the siting of various parcels, many of which had panoramic views of the city to the north. Cutter designed many residences in South Hill, including a Neoclassical one for Austin Corbin II and his wife Katherine Benham (born 02/22/1867 in Canton, IA-d. 07/13/1950 in Spokane, WA), completed in 1898. The Austin and Katherine Corbin House reflected the family's wealth and social position, its most notable features being its up-to-date Neocolonial styling, crowned by a projecting portico supported by Ionic columns. The mansion contained 2.5 stories, 17 rooms, 12,170 square feet and occupied a 7-acre parcel, a lavish dwelling by any standard, that became the setting for many social events of Spokane's high society during the early 20th century. The building contractor H.J. Skinner erected the house for about $65,000, at a time when the average American house price was between $1,500 and $3,500. A very well-appointed luxury home would have been in the $10,000-$15,000 range. Due to the effects of the Depression of 1893, housing price indices dipped sharply between 1890 and 1900, making 1898-1900 an excellent time to purchase (or build) a new house on the West Coast. (See Ronan C. Lyons, Allison Shertzer, Rowena Gray and David Agorastos, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.org, "The Price of Housing in the United States, 1890–2006," Working Paper 24-12, p. 41, published 06/2024, accessed 10/16/2025.)

Austin Corbin II wed Katherine Benham on 05/04/1894, and with her had two daughters--Mary Louise (born c. 05/1896 in WA) and Katherine (born 1904 in Spokane, WA-d. 03/25/1966 in Portland, OR). In 1900, the Corbins lived in the grand manse at 815 West 7th Avenue with their eldest daughter Mary Louise, Katherine's father Lucius Benham (born c. 10/1847 in OH), who had worked as a merchant in CO, and eleven household servants. For the time, employing eleven household servants was unusual for a Western, upper-class family. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Spokane Ward 2, Spokane, Washington; Roll: 1751; Page: 20; Enumeration District: 0065, accessed 10/15/2025.) As documented in the 1910 US Census, Austin and Katherine shared the house with their two daughters, Lucius Benham and a pared-down staff of six servants. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Spokane Ward 2, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T624_1670; Page: 2a; Enumeration District: 0167; FHL microfilm: 1375683, accessed 10/15/2025.)

In 1925, the Corbins' neighbors to the east, Burgess L. and Raphaelita Gordon, donated their house and land to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane for use as a Catholic girls' school, Marycliff High School, that opened in 1929. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration managed the high school between 1929 and 1979..

As recorded by the 1940 US Census. Katherine continued to reside at 815 West 7th Avenue. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04387; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 41-96, accessed 10/16/2025.) This changed in 1945, when the house was renovated to serve as a convent for the sisters. According to the Spokane Spokesman-Review: "The nuns would eventually live in the 1898 Austin Corbin mansion next door, which Corbin's widow donated to the church in 1945 and was remodeled as a convent." The house's grounds became part of Marycliff High School and Convent.

Following the school's closure by the Diocese in 1979, the Corbin House and surrounding Marycliff campus were sold to a local investor syndicate led by developer Jim Frank, head of Greenstone Homes. The Frank group subdivided the property for other uses, the Corbin Mansion becoming an events center. It was up for sale in 2024.

Following her death in 1950, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane obtained the property, which used it as part of the Marycliff High School and as part of a convent for the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration who staffed the school between 1929 and 1979.. It remained part of the convent complex until after 1979, when it was sold off, most recently for use as an events center. (See Spokane Spokesman-Review.com, "Austin Corbin House," accessed 10/15/2025.)

Building Notes

The Marion Dean Ross Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians toured the Corbin House at its Spokane meeting 11/04/2012. Cutter expert Henry Matthews led the tour.

PCAD id: 18070