Considered Queen Anne's first Modernist house, the home was designed by Architect Robert Reichert to accommodate his studio, his pipe organ, and his mother.
The wedge-shaped house is a stark contrast to it's surroundings, as is the shadow painting executed on the building's south elevation. Its paneling and shapes recall the Italian Renaissance, particularly the wall designs of the Florence Cathedral and Della Salute in Venice.
Adding to the house's notability is the unique approach to life taken by it's designer: in the 1950's, architect Robert Reichert was a unique character within Seattle's design community. As other local architects embraced international modernism and helped develop a Pacific Northwest architectural style, Reichert went his own way. Reichert's architectural forms advertised his approach to life, which a contemporary reporter called a Freudian nightmare.
When the building was put up in 1955, it attracted very much local attention, rock throwing and irresponsible newspaper publicity. Reports were made in the papers without having made any inquiry into its meaning or use. So strong was public resentment that it was at first almost impossible to obtain groceries nearby. It is earnestly hoped that the building as well as its activities, organ concerts, etc. would be a contribution to the cultural life of the community and be a blessing to all.
While the home was not originally greeted warmly by the neighborhood, the clean lines and bold graphics are an important historical artifact from one of the early regionally recognized North West Modernists.
A series of renovations stripped the structure of it's original striking presence, and obscured much of what makes the home special both formally, and in terms of historical value.
Reichert was a Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiast, attuned to Christian spirituality, loved the ecstatic quality of pipe organ music, and valued individual expression.
Reichert (1923-1996) was born in Fargo, North Dakota and lived in Seattle for most of his adult life. He was committed to two passions, architecture and music. At Harvard University, he studied with renowned Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius, and received a master's degree in architecture in 1951. Reichert also studied at the Royal College of Organists in London, and MacPhail College in Minneapolis. His early architecture career included work on federal government buildings in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Cuba, and Colombia.
Reichert moved to Seattle in the late '40s to begin his architectural career, and he taught sporadically at the University of Washington until 1979.
His architectural practice in Seattle (1951-1996) focused primarily on residential work, but also included helping to plan a new wing of Swedish Hospital, the University Congregational Church, portions of the Labor Temple on Second Avenue, and several University of Washington buildings.
Reichert designed his houses to express romanticism through recognized architectural vocabulary, saying: these small wooden buildings have provided examples of romantic viewpoint. Yes, they are very different from those around them, as they are romanticism in a time of the most excruciating realism
In 1959, Frederick and Nelson's downtown Seattle department store (now Nordstrom's) displayed drawings of Reichert's residential designs. The display was sponsored by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and featured his concepts on windows as elements of light diffusion and transparency.
He described his designs as romantic rather than functional sculptural in form and traditional in mannerism. Reichert's philosophy and his motorcycle-riding public personal created a significant distance between his work and the public's view of it. He stated that his obsessions with music and architecture were inspired by touring great cathedrals as a child, and he considered the two fields to be closely related.
In 1990, he looked back on his life and work for an exhibit of his paintings and buildings:
I had to face the fact that such ambitions would leave me alone in life. On returning home [from Harvard where he received his masters in architecture], I was faced with the hardest decision to make, should I go along with the now dominant world of modern art, or could I do otherwise. With whom would I align myself? Sadly, no name in the arts appeared.He held freedom in much higher regard than the authoritative, regulated and enforced world of art,but his self-styled romanticism was often incongruous and distasteful to the general public. Though Reichert worked with the local press to clarify his unique take on the world and his design philosophy, most public reaction was mixed or outright rude.
Perhaps for that reason, after opening his own practice in 1951, clients were scarce. His unyielding philosophy was that architecture should rise above utility and be art. "My decision was, if necessary, and it was, to be the lone representative, win or lose, for romanticism in the arts," Reichert wrote.
It is primitive, natural and symbolic. It is unrelated to its surroundings; it contrasts. Most meaningful is the shadow painting on the south wall. As it is shadow tones which give vitality and definition to the form of buildings, this building does not have to depend on sunlight but has its shadow on cloudy days and at night as well; it is expressive at all times, giving radiance to it's surroundings. The design of the shadow reveals a love for traditionalism and history. Its paneling and shapes recall the Italian Renaissance, particularly the wall designs of the Florence Cathedral and Della Salute in Venice.
The interior of the building is divided by sliding wood panels. There is approximately 2000 square feet of floor area on three levels. Heating is electric throughout. The building is very practical in the usual meaning, in that it is properly related and shaped to fit the site and slope of the lot. It is a social conformer in that its bulk and height very nearly match its neighbors. It is intended to house appropriately the activities for which it is used, to give a religious atmosphere.
From a letter to Queen Anne Circle Tours, Feb 26, 1962, From Department of Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries. References: http://archive.seattleweekly.com/2005-07-06/diversions/the-soloist http://www.remodelista.com/posts/historic-egan-house-in-seattle-washington-robert-reichert/