Details Of Distinction

AT THE WESTERN crest of Capitol Hill, in a neighborhood replete with grand old houses, one home rests at a particularly notable intersection of art, architecture and Seattle history.

The two-story stucco-and-wood Craftsman, which turns 100 next year, was built for the son of Elisha Ferry, the state's first governor, for just $17,500. More significantly, it is considered by experts to be the most extensive and intact example of interior work done by famed American decorative artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, and it's listed on both the National and Washington Heritage Register.

It is something of a mystery how Tiffany, the East Coast artist celebrated in Europe at the time, made it all the way out to rough-and-ready turn-of-the-century Seattle. But Seattle had its share of high society even back then, and the Ferrys and their neighbors, the John Leary family, could afford the best.

Tiffany didn't sign the home's floral-patterned windows or its centerpiece — an ornate, full-length fireplace mosaic. Records of who did what are sparse, but one of the original owners told friends Tiffany was involved, and experts confirm the work is his.

Tiffany, who died in 1933, is best known for his innovations in glass making, but his interior-design work also brought him fame and popularized new tastes for interior spaces. On the Ferry home, he worked with architect John Graham, distinguished for designing some of the city's commercial landmarks, including the Bon Marché building.

The home received city landmark status in 1978, and much of the information about Tiffany's involvement came to light through Nancy Duckwall Yee, who did exhaustive research for her master's-degree thesis on the home a quarter-century ago. Former music executive Michael Malone purchased the home in 1979 and immediately set upon an ambitious plan to improve the grounds while retaining the historic essence. He expanded the home's footprint but committed to keeping the time capsule intact. He still lives there with his wife, Barbara, and their children.

"The amazing thing about the house is the quality of the craftsmanship," says Malone, who also owns the Sorrento Hotel downtown. "The detail, whether in the woodwork or the glass of the windows, there is infinite detail, things I can constantly appreciate. The other thing is that it is elegant but not formal."

The décor is influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement, but also is full of nature-based Art Nouveau flourishes, which Tiffany loved and used as a landscape painter. Thick oak columns adorned with expertly carved owls greet visitors as they enter. The neighborhood was called "owl hollow" because the creatures roosted in the wooded hillside, a remote part of town at the time.

In fact, the natural world is celebrated throughout the house in Tiffany's work.

The front room, called the Great Hall then but modest by today's standards, holds a fireplace on one end, a 19th-century grand piano near the middle. But the Tiffany windows at the northern edge are what command attention. He used his signature of iridescent and colored glass to paint an arboreal scene.

The most stunning Tiffany attraction is the gilt-glass mosaic fireplace in the formal dining room. The facing consists of iridescent gold glass and opaque chunks of soft green, blue and yellow glass arranged in a wisteria pattern. The years the house was built coincide with when he introduced the same pattern into lampshades.

The adjoining living room features carefully set bookcases with glass-front doors and thick, finely etched ceiling beams. In fact, as Malone has noted since the day he bought the house, beauty lies within the loving details.

Richard Seven is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. He can be reached at rseven@seattletimes.com. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.