Overview

This unbuilt design for the first building on the Montlake campus of the University of Washington was done by the firm of Boone and Willcox. Due to unreliable bids, the University of Washington planning board overseeing the process, threw out the results and indicated their desire to repeat the bidding. By the time the process resumed, the Seattle architectural firm of Saunders and Lawton had obtained the commission.

Building History

In 08/1891, the Seattle architectural firm of Boone and Willcox prepared for the Washington State Land and Building Commissioners, a body planning a new campus for the University of Washington, a list of 16 buildings for the campus that would have included: a biological hall, chemical hall, hall of law and medicine, hall of mathematics, hall of mines, an out building, general library, gymnasium, observatory, dormitory for men, dormitory for women, dining hall, chapel, manual training hall, stables and a boat house. The first to have been erected, and for which plans were prepared, was the "Administration and Belles Lettres Building." Bids for this building were to be advertised by 09/01/1891.

By late 09/1891, the commissioners received two separate sets of bids--one for materials and the other for labor-- from five contractors, James Parke, John F. Long and Company, Mallory, Van Fossen and Sprague, Lillis and Goss, and Charles H. Bebb. (Bebb, [1862-1942] an Englishman who had just arrived in Seattle, would go on to become one of the most successful architects in the city, particularly during his years practicing with Carl F. Gould, Sr., between 1914-1939. Bebb and Gould would design a high percentage of buildings Jacobethan/Gothic buildings on campus built during the first great building boom from 1917-1929.) The bids from these five varied widely from a low of $479,000 to a high of $650,000. The State of Washington requested two types of bids from the building contractors, which they did not like. In general, contractors have control over labor costs, but have less with materials prices.

Because the figures were too widely disparate, they were all thrown out, and the process restarted. By the time the process began again, however, Boone and Willcox had been replaced as architects by the new firm of Saunders and Lawton. They managed to realize their design, what would become renamed "Denny Hall" in 1910.

PCAD id: 19938