Ellsworth Storey Research

Since the early 1970s I have been interested in the work of Seattle architect Ellsworth Storey who practiced in Seattle from 1904 until the Great Depression essentially ended his career. His designs were generally quirky, standing out from the from the standard eclectic interpretations of his fellow practitioners.

After my retirement I finally had time to research his accumulated works seriously. I found a database builder, Tap Forms, that was easy to set up and started with the projects I already knew about. I then Looked through the Seattle Times archives for Storey projects and was about to start looking through the collected drawings the professor Victor Steinbrueck had donated to the University of Washington when COVID shut down Special Collections where the archive was kept. I had to set aside the project for a couple of years and work on other projects until the archive was once again available.

I've Spent the last six months visiting the library once a week and working through the catalog with the assistance of University of Washington graduate student and archivist, Kelly Daviduke.

I'm also thankful to have a copy of a thesis written in 1994 by University of Washington graduate student Chistine Carr focusing on Storey's residential projects.

I am getting close to finishing my initial look through the drawings. Here is a sample page from the database: