THE SYNTHESIS OF WEST COAST STYLE AND REFINED HOSPITALITY;
THE EXECUTIVE HOTEL PACIFIC IS A PROUD, LIVING PIECE OF SEATTLE HISTORY
Built in 1928 and hasn’t closed its doors open since. The Pacific is a jewel of early 20th century design in the neoclassical mode, built during the roaring ‘20s; the booming days of industry in a Seattle of unrestrained growth. Being close to everything was no accident; much of the downtown core sprang up around the Hotel Pacific after it was built! Right across the street from the architectural jewel, the Seattle Public Library, on the corner of 4th and Spring: minutes from acclaimed Pike Place and all its waterfront shops and bistros, endless restaurants, the cruise ship terminal, Benaroya Hall, Safeco and CenturyLink Fields, and the iconic Space Needle.
HISTORY LIVES HERE
The hotel was opened with a gala dance in the Spanish ballroom on August 30, 1928 as the hotel Hungerford and remained in the ownership of the Kreilsheimer family until 1977. It received major renovations in 1978 when new owners the Fourth & Spring Associates undertook the huge project of overhauling the hotel rooms, reducing the number from 174 to 168, and included a thorough cleaning of the brick and terra cotta exterior, replacing the windows, and upgrading the lobby.
At that time the hotel was renamed the Pacific Plaza Hotel; a name which stood until acquired in 2000 by Executive Hotels & Resorts, when it received its current name and a considerable investment in modernizing almost every operational part of the hotel. From the HVAC and electrical to plumbing, elevators, and IT infrastructure, every behind-the-scenes piece of the hotel was upgraded without sacrificing its timeless design and style; a signature of Executive heritage restorations. In 2020, a second round of style updates was undertaken to maintain the historic legacy of the building, and in celebration of it’s origins in the ‘20s of the century before.
DESIGN
This nine-story hotel building originally housed several retail stores and 181 hotel rooms including 20 apartment suites. It showcases a three-part vertical block façade composition and the upper floors are lavishly decorated with classically-derived terra cotta ornament. The reinforced concrete structural system is primarily clad with yellow-cream color brick, and by contrast the building is capped at the uppermost floor level by lavish glazed terra cotta ornament including elaborate window surrounds incorporating turned colonettes, garlanded lintels, and shell-form tympana. The roofline is terminated by a simple, narrow terra cotta cornice.
The two-story building base includes the storefront level at Fourth Avenue and the second floor/hotel lobby level accessed from Spring Street. The building base is capped by a simple classically detailed intermediate cornice and the second-floor level windows include sculpted terra cotta lintels and a continuous sill. The entire Fourth Avenue storefront level is distinguished by an original ornate metal canopy that includes seven modern pyramidal skylights. The storefront level has been partially remodeled, although portions of the original storefronts remain in place including green marble cladding and wooden window and doorway trim. The original hotel canopy and terra cotta ornamented entryway at Spring Street have been extensively remodeled and the Fourth Avenue entryway eliminated.