Résumé

Service, US Army, Fort Sill, OK, 1964-1966.

Architect, Edward K. Mahlum, Architect, Seattle, WA.

Partner, [Edward K.] Mahlum and Mahlum, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1968-1975.

Partner, Mahlum, Mahlum and Nordfors, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1975-1979.

Partner, Mahlum and [John] Nordfors, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1976-1993.

Partner, Mahlum and Nordfors McKinley Gordon, Seattle, WA, 1993-1998.

Partner/Chief Executive Officer, Mahlum Architects, Seattle, WA, 1998-2003. The firm changed its name to "Mahlum" in 2009. Mahlum's firm has made it a tradition to name the CEO's successors well in advance of their retirement.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA), Seattle Chapter, Seattle. WA.

President, AIA, Seattle Chapter, Seattle, WA, 1969.

Member, Seattle Architectural Foundation (SAF), Board of Trustees, Seattle, WA.

Member, University of Washington Seattle (UW), Department of Architecture, Professionals Advisory Council, Seattle, WA.

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1983.

High School / College

Graduate, Queen Anne High School, Queen Anne, Seattle, WA.

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Seattle, WA, 1961.

M.Arch., Columbia University, New York, NY, 1962-1964.

Relocation

John Edward Mahlum was born in Saint Paul, MN, on 09/04/1939. His father Edward was an architect who moved the family to Seattle in 1940, where they dwelled in the Magnolia neighborhood. On 05/20/1943, Edward and Annette Mahlum lived at 4321 West Emerson Street in Seattle. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At Seattle; Seattle, Washington; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1890-1991; NAI Number: 592779; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009; Record Group Number: 21, accessed 04/28/2025.)

John attended Seattle city schools and the University of Washington, graduating in 1961.

During the summer of 1961, John traveled throughout Europe having won an architectural scholarship. He met his future wife Hanna Harvold aboard the passenger liner on the way to Europe, and the two married about one year later.

Between 1962 and 1964, the architect and his bride resided in New York, NY, while John earned a Master's degree in architecture. They spent two years here before he was drafted into the US Army, serving two years at Fort Sill, southwest of Oklahoma City.

He and his wife had a daughter Annette before they resettled in Seattle in 1966. Like his parents, John purchased a residence in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. They also purchased a vacation house in the San Juan Islands.

In later years, John and Hanna Mahlum dwelled at the refined retirement facility, Horizon House.

Parents

His father was the architect Edward Kristian Mahlum (born 11/13/1909 in New York, NY-d. 09/05/1998), with whom he practiced between 1968 and 1976.

Edward Mahlum served in the US military in Iceland and Scotland during the 1942-1945 period.

His mother was Annette Haave (born 04/14/1912 in Faaberg, Opland, Norway), who married Edward on 05/21/1937 in Manhattan, NY. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 04/28/2025.). Annette came to the US aboard the Norwegian-America Liner, S.S. Stavengerfjord in 05/1937, the same ship on which John would meet his wife Hanna in the summer of 1961. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At Seattle; Seattle, Washington; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1890-1991; NAI Number: 592779; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009; Record Group Number: 21, accessed 04/28/2025.)

Spouse

John Mahlum married Hanna Liv Harvold (born 12/31/1939 in Norway-d. 01/11/2022 in Seattle, WA) in Oslo, Norway, in 1962. They had met aboard a transatlantic steamship, the Stavengerfjord, in 1961. Hanna's family resided in Oslo and was returning there, while John was traveling to Europe on a scholarship.

Children

He and Hanna had three children: Annette Mahlum Smith, Paul Mahlum (born c. 1967 in Seattle, WA) and Edward Mahlum (born c. 1969 in Seattle, WA).

Biographical Notes

Member, Nordic Heritage Museum, Board of Trustees, Seattle, WA.