AIA Home of the Month
The Seattle Times/AIA Home of the Month/Year 1954-2004
Curator: Marga Rose Hancock Hon. AIA
Original posting on www.aiaseattle.org: September 2004
A Half-Century of Home Design
2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the partnership of The Seattle Times and AIA Seattle in the Open House program (originally known as "Home of the Month")
The Seattle Times offered a retrospective in front-page coverage 2/29/04:
* Dream Homes: A window into how we've changed, by Elizabeth Rhodes
*Also '50 years of open houses,' by Peter Sackett
50th anniversary observances also included
* OHo 2024 at AIA Seattle Gallery: an exhibit of entries addressing the future of residential design
* The Seattle Times/AIA Home of the Year March 12, with guest speaker Sarah Susanka AIA, the popular author's second appearance in this program.
In Spring 2004, Seattle Times officials advised AIA Seattle that publication of the Open House program would cease effective with the May publication. Later, colleagues at the Times offered a statement in response to questions about the decision to discontinue the program.
Home in Seattle 1954-1994
40th anniversary Celebration
In 1994, AIA Seattle observed the 100th anniversary of the establishment of AIA in Seattle and Washington, and also the 40th anniversary of the Seattle Times/AIA program. In addition to the summary history reproduced below, the celebration included assembly of the historical record of the program's unique archive (prepared by Ellen Southard), creation of an exhibit based on the archive, an assembly of participant architects and Times reporters and editors to review the exhibit, and creation of a video retrospective of the four decades of home design featured in the program.
The Seattle Times/AIA Home of the Month program first appeared in 1954: on January 3, The Seattle Times published an article describing a home in Blue Ridge designed by Ira Cummings AIA for the N. J. Zorich family. Times journalist and editor Margery R. Phillips initiated the program - the first of its kind in the country - with a group of architects associated with the organization then known as the Washington State Chapter of The American Institute of Architects, now AIA Seattle. Their goal: to educate the public about residential architecture.
Margery Phillips wrote the monthly feature articles for the feature's first two decades. Other journalists have contributed over the years: Rosella Broyles, Polly Lane, Svein Gilje, and more recently Sally Gene Mahoney, Michele Matassa Flores and Elizabeth Rhodes.
In its early years, journalists emphasized the owner's lifestyle as served by the design. In more recent years, perhaps in keeping with readers' greater sophistication about design, the writing has reflected architecture that serves art as well as domestic comfort.
Most recently, the features demonstrate architects' response to issues of sustainability and energy use, and to affordability. [2004 addendum: beginning in 1997, to reflect expanding housing choices, The Seattle Times and AIA Seattle initiated "Housing the Northwest," an annual feature and tour of architect-designed multi-family housing.]
From the beginning, the monthly feature offered an Open House, when Times readers could visit the featured home on the Sunday of its publication. Over time, the feature has attracted ever larger attendance: since 1990, it has become the norm to expect 2,000 visitors. Some of the area's most well-known architects have participated in the program over the years, including for instance Fred Bassetti, Arne Bystrom, Jim Cutler, David Fukui, Carolyn Geise, Jane Hastings, Paul Hayden Kirk, Wendell Lovett, Ibsen Nelsen, and Stuart Silk. These and many others have become publicly known and established their reputations through the attention focused on their work by the feature.
Seattle Times/AIA Home of the Year
Beginning in 1954, the program has included an annual prize for one home selected as the "Home of the Year."
On January 10, 1955, Gene Zema, the architect associated with the selected home received as a prize a sculpture, "Inspiration," by noted sculptor Everett DuPen. A ceremony at which Chapter President Robert L. Durham presided, along with Allied Arts President John S. Detlie, took place at the Rainier Club over luncheon. In some years, the owner of the home received a cash prize –in the 1950's, $500 represented a substantial reward.
Throughout its history, the program has cited the contractors who built the homes along with the owner and architect. In later years, the Home of the Year event has expanded and "gone public," since 1984 drawing increasingly large audiences to hear some of the nation's most distinguished architects as juror/speakers: Robert A. M. Stern, Hugh Newell Jacobson, Fay Jones in 1990, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown in 1991; and other renowned professionals including popular author (Home) Witold Rybczyski in 1992. [See below for speakers, juries, and selections 1984-2004.]
In the early years of the program, the Seattle Times sponsored a banquet for participating architects and home-owners, featuring the presentation of prizes to both owners and architects. This evolved into the popular Home of the Year event, a review of the year's projects and a distinguished speaker on a topic related to residential design.
In 1994, as part of a program of observances of the 100th anniversary of AIA in Seattle and Washington and the 40th anniversary of the program, AIA Seattle volunteers led by Ellen Southard assembled a complete retrospective of the program features, in xerox form. A jury of past participants reviewed the history of the program for preparation of "Home in Seattle 1954-1994," an exhibit and videotape presented at the 1994 Home of the Year event.
Homes of the Year 1984-2004
Guest Speakers, Juries, Selections
February 16, 1984: William Turnbull at a reception for 12 Home of the Month participants and owners, location ?
February 28, 1985: Charles Moore at Design Center NW: Sammamish Plateau Residence by Scott Wyatt
February 26, 1986: Hugh Newell Jacobsen at SAM on Capitol Hill: Parsons/Benezet Residence by Stuart Silk
February 6, 1987: Robert A. M. Stern at Design Center NW: McConkey House, by Hobbs Fukui Davison
February 12, 1988: Mark Mack at Design Center *NW Dash Point Residence by Stuart Silk: Bainbridge Island home by Jim Castanes
February 17, 1989: Antoine Predock at UW Kane Hall: Bridge House by James Cutler
March 9, 1990: E. Fay Jones at UW Kane Hall "House in the Upper Woods" (Mercer Island) by Martin Henry Kaplan
February 15, 1991: Daniel Solomon at Kane Hall: Cunningham Residence, by Baylis Brand Wagner Architects
January 30, 1992: Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown at First United Methodist Church: homes by Jeremy Miller and Robert May
February 12, 1993: Witold Rybczynski at Kane Hall: Whidbey Island House by Lane Williams
February 15, 1994: 40th Anniversary of Seattle Times/AIA Home of the Month, A Retrospective: Ralph Anderson, Tom Bosworth, Grant Hildebrand, Polly Lane, Ed Weinstein at UW Kane Hall; Union Arts Cooperative, by Patricia Brennan
February 24, 1995: Christopher Alexander at Kane Hall, with Robert Hull, Gordon Walker, Roger Williams: Las Brisas del Mar Apartments by Studio Jaso; Donnet/Olsson Residence by Sortun-Vos Architects
February 29, 1996: Barry Berkus at Kane Hall, with Jim Cutler, Nora Jaso, Jim Olson: Raye Street Residence by Lane Williams ; Honorable Mention: Artists Home Remodel by Lavae Aldrich
February 28, 1997: Doug Kelbaugh FAIA at Kane Hall with L. Jane Hastings, David Miller: Fairview Lofts by Arellano/Christofides Architects
February 28, 1998: Robert Ivy FAIA at Kane Hall with Tom Bosworth, Patricia Brennan, Claus Seligmann, Stuart Silk: Queen Anne Hill Residence by David Coleman
February 26, 1999: Robb Wellington Quigley FAIA at Kane Hall, with Lavae Aldrich, Peter Q. Bohlin, Walter Schacht: Fontaine-Carlson House & Studio, by Tom Kuniholm
February 25, 2000: Arne Bystrom FAIA at Kane Hall, with Christopher Bull, Carolyn Geise, Bill Kreager: Brand Residence by Baylis Architects; Stonewater Townhouses, by Johnston Architects
February 23, 2001: Sarah Susanka AIA at Kane Hall, with El Baylis AIA, Jerry Fulks, Mary Johnston AIA: Foster Residence, by Foster Architects
February 22, 2002: John Patkau Hon. FAIA at Kane Hall, with John Eggleston AIA, Karen Guzak, Peter Stoner AIA: Norway Hills Residence, by Rhodes Architecture + Light
March 14, 2003: Jeremiah Eck FAIA at Kane Hall, with Sian Roberts AIA, Nancy Satterberg ASID, Lane Williams AIA: Nuler-Cudahy Residence, by David Coleman Architecture
March 12, 2004: Sarah Susanka AIA at Kane Hall, with Jim Castanes AIA, L. Jane Hastings FAIA, Jon Nuler: Madrona Residence by Vandeventer & Carlander; Barclay Court, by Adams Mohler Ghillino Architects
January 11, 2006: Arne Bystrom and Gene Zema happened by the AIA Seattle office, coincidentally on the day after the 51st anniversary of the first Home of the Year, presented to Gene Zema (story at left)
Photo by Peter Sackett