Andrew Willatsen

Andrew Willatsen (born "Willatzen", 8 October 1876 - 25 July 1974) was an architect chiefly remembered for bringing the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School to the Pacific Northwest.Andrew Christian Peter Willatzen was born in North Germany in 1876 and came to the United States in 1900. He changed the spelling of his name to Willatsen circa 1918 due to anti- German sentiment during World War I. This may also explain the fact that later he always identified with the Danish in his background. He first worked as a carpenter, then as a draftsman and arrived at Frank Lloyd Wright's Studio in Oak Park, Illinois in 1902 or 1903. The Studio was just entering its most creative period, and Willatzen soon became a valued apprentice. He later claimed "full responsibility" for Wright's 1905 remodeling of the lobbies of Chicago's Rookery Building, and said that "The Boss" accepted his design for the fence of the Larkin Administration Building (Buffalo, NY, 1907, destroyed) without changes. Willatzen also worked on the interiors of the Martin House in Buffalo and was hired by the Martins for a 1920 remodel, while Wright was away in Japan .

By 1907, Willatzen had about 3 years experience off and on with Wright. That year he moved to Spokane, Washington, secured a position with the prestigious firm of Cutter & Malmgren, and was soon sent to head the Seattle office and supervise the construction of the Seattle Golf & Country Club (1908) at The Highlands, north of the city.

In 1909, Willatzen formed a partnership with Francis Barry Byrne (1883-1967), whom he had known at Wright's office. The new firm quickly began a series of homes adapting Wright's principles to the Northwest environment. The Charles E. Clarke House (1909) at The Highlands, and the Frederick Handschy House (1910) at 2433 9th Ave. W., Seattle, are large bungalows which draw on Wright's early gable-roofed Prairie houses, and also show influences from other Prairie School architects such as Walter Burley Griffin. The George Matzen House (1910) at 320 Kinnear Place, Seattle, is hipped-roofed, stuccoed, with a stunted cruciform plan typical of the Prairie style confined by a narrow, sloping site. The interlocking spaces of the interior and the custom designed leaded glass, light fixtures and furniture combined to give the Matzen House perhaps the finest of Willatzen and Byrne's executed interiors. The proposal for the A.S. Kerry Mansion (1910) at The Highlands (constructed 1911 in an abbreviated form), reflected Wright's long, low, more expansive designs. Although lacking the grand living and dining spaces of the original project, this house remains an impressive design; it is perhaps the best know of Willatzen and Byrne's work and is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright. The Oscar E. Maurer House (1910) at 2715 Belvidere, Seattle, the John T. McVay House (1911) at 1025 Belmont Place, Seattle, the George Bellman House (1912) at 2021 E. Lynn, Seattle, and the L. George Hagar House (1913) at 303 W. Prospect, Seattle, (also scaled down from a grander first proposal) are typical of the firm's handling of more modest homes.

Willatzen and Byrne also designed in the Craftsman mode and various period revival styles. Most significant of these is the Stickleyesque George E. Felmlay House (1911) at 6975 47th Ave. S.W., Seattle, and the Carleton Huiscamp House at The Highlands (1912), the firm's most important eclectic work. This imposing Dutch Colonial's strong lines and fine detailing show that the partners were comfortable with period revival design. Later additions have unfortunately detracted from the house's original appearance. The firm also produced numerous business, commercial, and industrial structures, including their first project, the many oriel-windowed Nelson, Tagholm and Jensen Building (Hotel Louisa) at King Street & 7th Ave. S., Seattle, (1909).

Barry Byrne left Seattle early in 1913, moving first to California and eventually returning to the Midwest. Byrne had a long and celebrated career, mainly in the designing of Catholic churches. Our Lady of Good Help (1910) in Hoquiam , WA. appears to be the first of this line.

, illustrate his handling of larger budget residences.

, (1915-17) have been identified.

After the decline in the popularity of the Prairie School, Willatsen worked in a wide variety of styles, designing stores, churches, and many other types of structures. From 1915 to the 1960s he was the architect for general alterations to the Seattle Pike Place Market. The simplicity and common sense of his work won many loyal customers who turned repeatedly to him for their architectural needs until his "retirement" in the late 1940's. He conntinued to work occasionally in his retirement, mainly for friends and old clients. Two modest standouts from this period are the suave little 1955 Church & North Office at 3701 SW Alaska St., Seattle, and the Richard Desimone House of 1959 at 2605 SW 170th St. in Normandy Park, WA., a picture-perfect midwest-style rambler in roman brick.

Andrew Willatsen died in Seattle in 1974 at the age of 97. His papers, drawings, and the furniture and art glass windows from the 1915 remodeling of his Boston Block office were acquired from Willatsen by the University of Washington shortly before his death. The windows are in the Architectural Library in Gould Hall. The table and chairs are in the University's Branch Office at the Palazzo Pio, Rome, Italy. A bookcase with leaded glass doors is in the office of the Dean of Architecture in Gould Hall. These are the only examples of Willatsen's furniture known to still exist.

Willatsen was a major contributor to the development of progressive architecture in the Northwest, and he, along with Byrne, must be credited with bringing the Prairie Style to Seattle over 30 years before Wright's first Northwest commission.

Bibliographical note

Willatsen is mentioned in H. Allen Brooks, "The Prairie School ", (Toronto, Norton Press, 1972) and his apprenticeship at The Studio is cited in Grant Carpenter Manson, "Frank Lloyd Wright To 1910" (NY., Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1958). His surviving drawings, some notebooks, papers, and a transcription of his personal project ledger are in the Special Collections and Manuscript Sections of The University of Washington Libraries. The only monograph on Willatsen's career is Silvia Lynn Gills, "Andrew C.P. Willatsen, Architect, A.I.A. (1876-1974)", (1980), an unpublished thesis. A copy is available in the University Architecture Library in Gould Hall. Much work is also documented in contemporary periodicals such as "Pacific Builder & Engineer", "Pacific Coast Architect", and "Bungalow Magazine", Early photos of the Clarke and Kerry Houses can be found in Frank Calvert; Editor, "Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast" (1913), reprinted by the Queen Anne Historical Society, Seattle, (1988). There is a full article on Willatsen in "Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects" (ed. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner), University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 1994, pages 168-173, 312; ISBN 029597365X. The article, upon which this entry is largely based, was co-authored by Professor Grant Hildebrand and myself, Jess M. Giessel.