Home Telephone Building
165 S. Howard St - Historic Name: Home Telephone Building
Built: 1907 - Style: Commercial Vernacular/Beaux Arts
Builder: John T. Huetter - Architect: Albert Held
Classification: Historic Contributing
Description: The upper section of the western facade of this two and a half story building, with its elaborate terra cotta festoons in spandrels and friezes, provides an indication of the original appearance of what was once, and to an extent still is, one of the more unique buildings in Spokane. Below the remaining terra cotta section, brick veneer facing added in the 1950s obscures an arcade, similarly adorned, above storefront windows divided by piers that once rose to the cornice; the upper portions of these are still evident.
Sets of three multi-light band windows once stretched above each storefront window between the piers. The original storefronts and the terra cotta arcade above may remain under the later brick facade but is probably damaged by the creation of new window openings. The north side of the building remains largely intact, with a series of brick piers reminiscent of the original facade. The arched window openings on the upper floor, and some other openings, have been bricked over. The south and east facades have been clad in stucco.
Cultural Data: This building was designed by noted Spokane architect Albert Held for the Home Telephone and Telegraph Co. and built by contractor John T. Huetter in 1907 at a cost of $60,700. In 1906, the city granted a franchise to the Home Telephone and Telegraph Co., the second telephone company in town, after Inland Telephone and Telegraph, to use an automatic dial system and to connect with already established long distance lines. In 1915, Home merged with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, which had previously subsumed Inland T & T. The company continued to occupy the building, as the Interstate Telephone Co., from the 1920s through 1940s, and as the General Telephone Co. of the Northwest during the 1950s and 1960s. The building also housed the Hollenback Piano Co. from 1927 to 1942, and the Western Electric Co. for about a decade starting about 1919. In 1970 the building became office space for a group of investment companies who named it the Pacific National Building. During the 1990s it was acquired by the current owner, Spokane Care Service, which uses it for a rehabilitation center.
From the NRHP Nomination Form