A National Historic Place, this was one of the finest homes in Spokane when built in 1898. The Campbell house was donated to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society in 1925 as a memorial to her mother, Grace Fox Campbell (Mrs. Amasa B. Campbell) by her daughter, Mrs. William Weaver Powell, nee Helen Campbell.
The Campbells had come from Youngstown, Ohio and Amasa had invested $25,000 in successful mines near Coeur d'Alene, most notably the Gem and the Mace, turning it into a fortune. They resided in Wallace, Idaho, a wild mining town, until 1898 when Campbell and his partner, John A. Finch, both moved themselves and their mining operations to Spokane, a more genteel and secure setting offering better educational, social, and business opportunities.
They both commissioned Kirtland Kelsey Cutter as architect and, while Finch chose a Neoclassical Revival style, Campbell chose a more picturesque English Tudor Revival exterior of stucco, sandstone, brick and heavy timbers. Both had been staples in Cutter's repertoire, and the results were magnificent. The two houses were built very near each other.
Restored and refurnished (the original furniture was auctioned in 1925 when the house was donated) by the Historical Society and the Arts Centre, this is one of the most original houses in Spokane, accomplished by studying the original cost inventory made in 1898, which included descriptions of furniture, draperies, and wallpaper.
According to Washington: A guide to the Evergreen State, the house was a museum at the time of their visit. Today the major exhibits have been moved out of the house to a new and much larger exhibit building, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture to the east of the house. The house itself remains open as a heritage home. Following is the excerpt from The Guide.
14.
SPOKANE PUBLIC MUSEUM (open 1-5 weekdays, 2-5 Sun.; free), 2316 W. 1st Ave., is maintained by the Eastern Washington
State Historical Society in the Grace Campbell Memorial Building, a three-story house in the English half-timbered style, designed by Kirtland K. Cutter. Formerly the house of Mrs. W. W. Powell, the building was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Powell's mother, a pioneer.
Since its beginning in 1916, the museum has grown from a single six-foot-counter exhibit to an institution of importance, with an average of more than 2,000 visitors a month. Many of the relics on display are of great value. Of special interest to the Northwest are the exhibits in mineralogy, geology, paleontology, conchology, entomology, ornithology, and forestry.
The collections housed on the ground floor include many paintings and etchings, Indian implements, and a variety of mounted fish. Several valuable exhibits are sponsored by the Spokane Art Association. Book collections, relics of pioneer days in the Northwest, Indian pottery and basketry may be seen in other rooms in the museum. An old stagecoach, for 30 years in the passenger and mail service of the Northwest, is an interesting item.
From the Washington: A guide to the Evergreen State
