This is, in its own right, a very interesting and imaginative building, with much of the architect's labor expended on the centralized entry. Built by the firm of the
Huetter Construction Company, the design is the handiwork of well known and respected architect Gustav Pehrson. Pehrson, a Swedish-born architect, came to Spokane in 1913, worked closely with Kirtland Cutter and designed hundreds of buildings before his death in 1968 at the age of 85.
In the Beaux Arts building are 22 studio apartments, 25 one-bedroom units, 13 two-bedroom units, and one three-bedroom suite. Built of reinforced poured concrete, the building has undergone very little change over the years; so little, in fact that, as of 2000, the year of its inclusion in the National Register, the original 1929 wallpaper still lined the hallways. We know not whether this remains the case.
The rather involved architectural description of the building follows.
Roosevelt Apartments
The six story apartment block is clad in multi-colored pressed brick and is distinguished by a center parapet embellished with sculpted glazed terra cotta featuring a massive cartouche with initials indicating the building's original and present name, "R/A" for Roosevelt Apartments. Along with the building's decorative central parapet, the front entrance of the apartment block is also a façade focal point distinguished with an elaborate, glazed terra cotta front entry surround and balconette. Brass filigree grille-work-rarely seen in such exuberant detail in the Spokane area-protects and highlights the glass transom light, sidelights, and front doors of the building.
A 15-foot-tall sign in the shape of the letter "R" is mounted on top of the tower. A scalloped terra cotta parapet and four-foot wide frieze encircle the roofline of the building. The frieze features brick veneer laid in a basket-weave pattern, a string course of
low-relief terra cotta panels embellished with floral designs, and terra cotta rosettes located above the center of each window on the sixth floor.
The entire building is clad in multi-colored pressed brick veneer sometimes referred to as 'tapestry brick." A lighter-brick belt course separates the second and third floors, and beneath the third floor, the brick veneer is rusticated The south façade of the apartment block is dominated by two wings that project forward towards Seventh Avenue to form a "U". A courtyard with a fountain-turned-planter is contained within the space produced by the projecting wings. The building's façade features a central bay and front entry, and evenly spaced windows with frames painted dark green. The windows are single, paired and tripartite units with double-hung, wood sashes and patterned upper panes. Each window features a flat arch and brick window sills.
The dominant focal point of the entire building is a decorative central parapet and front entry located on the south façade.
Influenced by the Beaux Arts style, a large, shaped parapet caps a central bay and is adorned with sculptural ornamentation, polygonal colonettes, and a massive cartouche constructed of ivory, tan, blue, and green-glazed terra cotta. The center of the cartouche features the letters "R" and "A" proclaiming the original and present name of the building, Roosevelt Apartments.
The building's front entry is also embellished with glazed terra cotta and is located five floors beneath the central parapet. Three steps constructed of paver brick rise to the front entrance of the building, and wrought-iron balustrades and decorative lanterns flank the steps. Two glazed entry doors with mahogany frames open into the building and are highlighted by sidelights and an arched transom light The doors, transom light, and sidelights are enhanced and protected by intricate brass filigree grille-work. The front entrance is further accentuated by a glazed terra cotta surround influenced by Moorish and Moroccan-style architectural elements. Unusual multi-patterned pilasters adorned with acanthus leaves, festoons, twisted columns, and Corinthian capitals flank the doorway. A terra cotta
architrave capped by a balconette embellished with a decorative wrought-iron balustrade is located above the front entrance. A tripartite window is protected by the balconette and features an ornamental terra cotta hood and cartouche. All of the glazed terra cotta surrounding the front entrance repeats the ivory, tan, blue and green colors depicted in the sculpted terra cotta that forms the massive, shaped central parapet.
From the NRHP Nomination Form