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Overview

The Laurence Colman House occupied a wooded site due west of Fauntleroy Park at Brace Point very close to the Elliott Bay shoreline.

Building History

Seattle architect Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971) worked with Laurence James Colman (born 09/25/1859 in Milwaukee, WI-d. 11/29/1935 in Seattle, WA) (son of the early Seattle businessman James Murray Colman [1832-1906]) in the 1920s on the design of this house, Laurentide, and the remodeling of the downtown Seattle Colman Building's first floor retail spaces on 1st Avenue. Loveless maintained his own office in the Colman Building from 1913-1924. Laurentide dated from about 1924.

Laurence Colman married Ida May Burwell (born 02/20/1863 in Mercer, PA-d. 12/01/1947 in Seattle, WA) on 09/07/1892 in Seattle, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Washington, U.S., County Marriages, 1855-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 04/15/2024.)

In 1920, Laurence Colman and Ida May, their son Kenneth Burwell Colman (born 07/29/1896 in Seattle, WA-d. 04/27/1982 in Seattle, WA), daughters Katharine Colman (born 07/18/1898 in Seattle, WA-d. 08/21/1925 in Seattle, WA) and Isabelle Colman (born 03/05/1902 in Seattle, WA-d. 07/01/1982 in Seattle, WA) and two domestic workers--John Phillips (born c. 1860 in IN) and Ole Alexaxon (born c. 1857 in Norway)--lived in an earlier, unnumbered house at Brace Point in West Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1931; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 338, accessed 04/15/2024.) By 1922, this previous dwelling was numbered 9343 Fauntleroy Way SW. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1922, p. 491.)

Colman and Ida resided in this house from at least 1924 until his death in 1935. Ida continued to live here in 1940, at which time she retained two domestic servants, Edna Homan (born c. 1884 in MO) and chauffeur Anton Kambo (born c. 1896 in Norway). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04383; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 40-332, accessed 04/15/2024.) According to her WA State death certificate, Ida passed away at Laurentide. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Death Index, 1940-2017, accessed 04/15/2024.)

Building Notes

In documents, Colman's first name was often misspelled as "Lawrence."

PCAD id: 8352