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Overview

The Seattle architect Arthur L. Loveless designed three neighboring houses on East Laurelhurst Drive NE at 3038 (the Grimshaw House). 3048 (the Bergues House) and 3054 (Lear House) in 1925, 1925 and 1928 respectively.

Building History

Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971) designed this Lake Washington waterfront mansion for Jacques and Anna Francoise Landry Bergues (born 10/27/1890 in Algiers, Algeria-d. 02/1979 in CA) in 1925. Jacques Mandelberg (he renamed his last name "Bergues" from Mandelberg, born 03/15/1896 in Switzerland-d. 03/1976 in Carmel, CA) was the Vice-President and Secretary of the Small and Hall Corporation, a company that sold canned salmon and Pacific Northwest fruits and berries in domestic and foreign markets. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1926, p. 293 and 1353.) The Bergues had three children, Jean René (born c. 1914 in Switzerland), and twins Edmée (born c. 1917 in Switzerland) and Germaine (born c. 1917 in Switzerland).

Jacques and Anna Bergues did not live here long, only until 1927 or so. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (Nara); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records of the U.s. District Court For the Western District of Washington, 1890-1957; Microfilm Roll: 77; Microfilm Serial: M1542, accessed 04/08/2024.) They sold the house likely in the late 1920s and moved to another Seattle residence by 1930 and by 1940 lived in the wealthy Santa Clara County enclave of Saratoga, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Saratoga, Santa Clara, California; Roll: m-t0627-00341; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 43-148, accessed 04/08/2024.)

As per the 1930 US Census, Campbell Church, Jr., (born 03/29/1907 in Joplin, MO), who operated a charter ship company, and his wife Nona Proctor (born 01/25/1906 in New York, NY-d. 03/05/2000) lived here with their daughter Peggy Anne (born 12/15/1929 in WA) and a housekeeper, Delia L. Kuykendall (born c. 1881 in MI). The census recorded that the house had an approximate value of $30,000 in 1930, comparable to surrounding houses on East Laurelhurst Drive. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 60A; Enumeration District: 0025; FHL microfilm: 2342227, accessed 04/09/2024.)

The house passed to the family of Stanley and Madeline Alice Walker Sayres (born 01/07/1898 in NE-d. 02/13/1977 in Los Angeles County, CA) by 1940. Stan Saint Claire Sayres (born 07/17/1896 in Dayton, WA-d. 09/17/1956 in Seattle, WA), was the President of the American Automobile Corporation that owned a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership on the corner of Broadway and Madison Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood and four others in WA and OR. Sayres achieved his greatest fame, however, in the city (and worldwide) due to his exploits as a hydroplane racer at the annual Seafair races and others across the US. Between 1937 and 1951, he purchased or built five hydroplanes, the Slo-mo-shun I, II, III, IV, and V. Sayres set two world unlimited water speed records in 1950 and 1952 of 160.323 miles per hour and 178.49 mph. The latter record lasted only until 1955, when it was surpassed at 202.32 by an English boat racer. The following year, Sayres died suddenly of a heart attack. A Seattle city park, located near the site of his hydroplane pit crew on Lake Washington, was named for Sayres following his death at 3800 Lake Washington Boulevard South. In 1940, Sayres lived here with Madeline and his daughter Sharon Saint Claire Sayres (born c. 1928 in OR) and a maid, Anna Johanson (born c. 1883 in Sweden). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04376; Page: 64B; Enumeration District: 40-77, accessed 04/08/2024.) By 04/27/1942, Sayres and his family had moved and resided at 3140 East Laurelhurst Drive. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 178, accessed 04/08/2024.)

PCAD id: 25089