Building History

Alonzo and Louise Barnett resided in this dwelling for 19 years, between 1903 and 1922. He operated A.A. Barnett Company, a real estate firm that bought and sold property and also offered loans to individuals. This company operated for many years in Spokane's Peyton Building (1898). The Barnetts had a son, Alonzo A. Barnett, Jr., (1894-1921) who died prematurely at age 28.

Building Notes

The Barnett House has transitional stylistic features, possessing residual features of the Queen Anne Revival Style and modern details of the Neo-Classical Revival. The building's massing displays some of the formal variety of the Queen Anne; this is seen most obviously in the tower with turret. Yet, the house also displays greater formal cohesion than was common in the Queen Anne, a hallmark of turn-of-the-century Neo-Classicism. This is most evident in the prominent placement of the single gable on the front facade, a form echoed in the broken pediments above the main entry and the second-floor balcony. The wraparound front porch could be seen the Queen Anne or Shingle Style houses of the 19th century. The fanlight (or demilune) window above the second-story porch also has a suggested keystone, ornamental details associated with Neo-Classicism.

The City of Spokane Historic Preservation Office's web site on the Barnett House stated: "The Alonzo and Louise Barnett House is an excellent example of the Free Classic Queen Anne style and is the only dwelling in the Mountain View Addition that features a combination of brick and frame construction, a round turret, and a wrap-around porch." (See City and County of Spokane, Historic Preservation Office, "Historic Properties of Spokane: Barnett House," accessed 08/19/2015.)

The house sat on a 50-foot-wide by 120-foot-deep lot. The Barnett's erected a gable-front garage located on the property's northern boundary