Overview

The Overlake Golf Club opened in 1927, but stayed operation only for a few years before the Depression forced its closure in the mid-1930s. It lay fallow until 1953, when a new country club with a new, 18-hole course was established on the 132-acre property.

Building History

Due to its easy ferry passage across Lake Washington, Medina, WA, became an increasingly sought-after residential location for the upper-middle-class by the 1920s. As noted by historian Phil Dougherty in his HistoryLink.org article on Medina: "With the influx of wealth into Medina, it's not surprising that a golf course and club soon followed. The Overlake Golf Club (later Overlake Golf & Country Club) opened an 18-hole golf course in 1927 on a sprawling expanse west of 84th Avenue NE between NE 12th and NE 24th streets. It quickly became a magnet for well-to-do golfers, and just as quickly lost its attraction when the Great Depression struck a few years later. It closed in 1934 or 1935 and for the next 15 years the land was pastureland, first for horses, then for Herefords. The club returned in the early 1950s and a redesigned golf course opened on the 132-acre site in 1953. It remains a popular draw today, though membership is by invitation only." (See Phil Dougherty, HistoryLink.org, "Medina--Thumbnail History," published 05/20/2015, accessed 04/24/2025.)

PCAD id: 25718