The San Marco is a historic

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

apartment building in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

that was built in 1904. It was designed by architect Albert Held. San Marco was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1987. It is also listed on the NRHP as a contributing property in the

Riverside Avenue Historic District The Riverside Avenue Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Downtown Spokane, Downtown Spokane, Washington consisting of buildings constructed in the early 20th century, and was listed on the Nationa ...

History

Built in 1904 by owner George C. Beck, who intended the San Marco to be, "one of the most elegant, expensive buildings" in the city and home to, "flats to lease to the upper crust." The intention to lease apartments to members of upper class society was one of the contributing factors to the San Marco, along with three other apartment buildings designed by Held in the first decade of the 20th century —

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Breslin and

Knickerbocker A Knickerbocker is a person from Manhattan (New York City, before 1898). A modern synonym is “New Yorker”. Knickerbocker or Knickerbockers may also refer to: People * Knickerbocker (surname), including a list of people with the surname, and ...

— being listed on the NRHP together as part of a thematic group. The San Marco, like the Amman, Breslin and Knickerbocker, represents the initial wave of apartment homes built in Spokane. At the turn of the century the city of Spokane was experiencing a population surge, which was accompanied by a housing shortage. Prior to 1900, city listings showed no "apartment homes" in Spokane. The upper and middle classes tended to own property, while the lower and working classes could rent from hotels, boarding houses or in commercial structures. There was a stigma against apartment homes for upper and middle class tenants at the time, but the housing shortage necessitated their construction. To alleviate the stigma, Held designed the San Marco like he did with other early apartment homes, to appear as if it was a grand hotel or exclusive club. The residential setting of the San Marco was also emphasized to help alleviate the stigma. It was set on the tree-lined Riverside Avenue, and an interior courtyard was included in the plans. The San Marco's historic importance was recognized first in 1976, when it was listed on the NRHP as a contributing property in the Riverside Avenue Historic District, and then again in 1987 when it along with three of Held's other buildings were listed as individual properties on the NRHP. Developer Ron Wells bought the San Marco, as well as seven other buildings within a one block radius of First and Cedar, in the 1980s. At the time, the area was considered undesirable and home to many vagrants. Wells renovated the San Marco, along with his other properties, in the 1980s and early 1990s. Renovation and preservation work on the San Marco and surrounding area helped spur massive investment in Downtown's west end, which continues into the 2020s.

Description

San Marco is a U-shaped building situated at the triangular intersection of Riverside Avenue and Sprague Avenue in the west end of Downtown Spokane and the western extremity of the Riverside Avenue Historic District. The two wings of the building, along Riverside and Sprague, surround an interior courtyard with an open end to the east. The Riverside wing is about 200 feet long while the Sprague wing is about 130 feet in length. It is a three story building with a tan brick exterior above a similarly-colored sandstone foundation. San Marco Courtyard.png, Interior courtyard San Marco Sprague Entrance.png, Sprague Ave. entrance

References

Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1904 Buildings and structures in Spokane, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Spokane, Washington {{Washington-NRHP-stub