Historic Name: Mayfair Tavern Common Name: Mayfair Café and Cocktail Lounge Assessor address: 407 W. 2 nd Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201 Historic address: 202 and 202-1/2 South Washington Street Parcel No. 35191.2904; Plat/Block/Lot: RAILROAD ADD N71FT L5-6B31 Acreage: less than one Township/Range/EW Section: T25R43E Section 19 Survey Name: Mayfair Cafe Field Recorder: Jim Kolva Prospective Owner: Chris Batten, C and I Properties, LLC Address: 502 W. Riverside Avenue, Suite 103, 99201 Classification: Building Within a District? No Contributing: No Eligibility Status: Not Determined - SHPO DESCRIPTION Historic Use: Apartments and tavern, cocktail lounge, restaurant, café, apartments, food store Plan: Rectangle; Stories: 1 (originally 3) Current Use: Cocktail Lounge Structural System: Brick Changes to Interior: Significant Changes to Windows: Significant Changes to Cladding: Significant, originally brick, flagstone veneer added in 1958, front entry relocated and reconfigured in 1967, flagstone painted ca. 2010. Changes to Height: Two buildings combined (1890 and 1911), originally three stories. Floors 2 and 3 were demolished in 1940. Foundation: stone and concrete Roof Type and Material: Flat with parapet, asphalt composition built up Form/Type: Commercial NARRATIVE Date of Construction: northern portion built in 1890, southern portion built in 1911 (per Assessor s Field Files and Sanborn Maps) Architect and Builder: Unknown Property appears to meet criteria for the National Register of Historic Places: No Property is located in a potential historic district (National and/or local): No Property potentially contributes to a historic district (National and/or local): No 1
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS National Register Criteria For Evaluation The loss of integrity of materials as discussed below leaves the building ineligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Plan under Criterion C, architecture. Furthermore, the alterations also leave the building with insufficient integrity to be considered under Criterion A, for its former association with the saloon and tavern business in Spokane. The building is also not associated with a significant person in Spokane s history, thus not eligible under Criterion B. Loss of Context and Potential Historic District The Mayfair is within a group, exclusive of some parking lots, of brick buildings constructed between 1900 and 1915, and in its original three-story form in both the 1890 and 1911 buildings, would fit the context. The 1940 demolition of the two upper floors, and the cladding to the brick with a variety of materials in 1949, and 1958 removed it in terms of form and material from its historic context. If a district were to be formed that included the block within which the Mayfair is located and the block to the east, the Mayfair would be non-contributing to that district. Loss of Integrity of Material The application of flat slabs of flagstone in 1958 provided a unique look to the building, but it also has bits and pieces from previous work that presents a disjointed exterior of piecemeal remodels, the ribbed aluminum from 1949 for example. In 1967 the main entry was relocated. Subsequent removal of original windows (ca. 1949-1958) and storefront, and the painting of the flagstone further diminished the integrity of the 1958 remodel. Finally, the most recent work, another layer of paint, and the application of T-111 siding to the upper portions of the façade added more inappropriate material. Essentially the building has no integrity. The interior has also been significantly altered. All bankets and booths have been removed, the bar has been truncated, walls have been removed, and partitions added. Wall materials and flooring have been altered. In some areas plaster has been removed to expose brick, and in others, brick pattern wallboard has been placed over plaster. Original light fixtures have also been replaced. Attempting to reverse the recent alterations to retrieve the 1950s era façade would be difficult and, in the case of the painted flagstone, perhaps impossible. Given the small scale of the building, its lack of character, and its potential economic return, such investment would likely not be made. 2
DESCRIPTION OF PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The building is on the southwest corner of Washington Street and Second Avenue. A parking lot is to the west and extends to the Allied Security buildings (1913 and 1911, altered) on the corner of Second and Stevens. Adjacent to the south is a two-story brick building built ca. 1906. Across Washington Street to the east is a four story brick apartment building and to its south a two story brick apartment building, both ca. 1910. Although of the same era as these neighboring buildings, the Mayfair has been dismantled and manhandled over the years, and has no integrity from that era or from the 1950s when the flagstone skin was applied. The Mayfair Café is a rectangular one-story building that is comprised of two separate buildings joined together ca. 1911. The first, on the north end, 26-feet by 60-feet was built in 1890 as a three-story brick building. The second, 45-feet by 57-feet, on the south two-thirds, was built in 1911 as a three-story brick building. No photos are available of the buildings either before or after the conjoining. The only photos (Libby, MAC archives) available are from the late 1940s and only show the interior. In 1940, a building permit was issued to Wreck the two top stories of 3-story apartments. At the time the upper floors were operating as the Libby Apartments/Libby Rooms, and the ground floor was the Mayfair Tavern. In 1949, a permit was issued to apply flex board and aluminum trim. In 1956 a permit was issued to modernize the front of the building. In 1958, as the Mayfair Café, a permit was issued to remodel the front and clad the exterior with stone veneer for a Café and Cocktail Lounge. A permit was issued to relocate the entrance in 1967. In 1974, the interior was altered with the addition of three partitions. The current building was painted around 2010, and the porous golden brown flagstone veneer is now irreversibly pigmented with paint. Within the last year, T- 111 was added to the upper section of the east and north walls. A galvanized metal flashing tops the T-111 wall section. The east façade, along Washington Street, is asymmetrical with three entry bays, all single aluminum-frame glass panel doors. The southerly bay is flanked on each side by single window bays in which the glass as been significantly reduced in size. Originally storefronts with low bulkhead walls, the openings are filled with composite board with ribbed aluminum in the transom section. Horizontally oriented fixed aluminum sash holding two glass panes are within the former storefront openings. Sills are wood with the southerly abound 12-inches lower than the northerly. The northerly sill sets the sill level for the window bays to the north. 3
The center bay consists of a single aluminum-framed glass panel door with an abutting fixed aluminum-framed two-light window. A Michelob Ultra neon sign is behind the glass. The transoms above the door and window are an opaque panel and a glass panel, respectively. A ribbed aluminum panel is above the door/window assembly. Separated by a narrow flagstone wall section is a similarly-sized window that has been filled in and consists of T-111 panel with a single glass panel with an air conditioning unit above. The sill is a flat flagstone table that projects slightly. Ribbed aluminum is set above the window assembly. (Per building permit, this aluminum panel may have been installed in the 1949 remodel.) The northerly bay, with the door set in the corner, is the main entry to the building. A second, companion door, is on the north side of the corner. A square pier, clad with flagstone anchors the door assemblies. The aluminum-framed doors are configured with glass sidelights and transoms. A ribbed aluminum panel is above the door assembly. South of the door is a fixed, aluminum-frame two-light window that fills the entire opening. Neon signs, Cocktails and Pabst are behind the glass. A slightly projecting flat flagstone sill and ribbed aluminum panel frame the bottom and top of the window sash. At the upper SE corner is a plastic panel blade sign that identifies MAYFAIR LOUNGE & CAFE with a large PEPSI logo. The north façade, facing Second Avenue, is flat with the same elements as the east façade. The corner door assembly is configured identically to that of the east façade. A single-light window is south of the door, and a pair of windows, one divided into two lights and the other, a single-light are in the west corner. Ribbed aluminum panels are above the windows. Slightly projecting flagstone sills frame the bottom of the window openings. The west façade reveals the juncture of the 1890 and 1911 buildings. The 1890 building is blank gray stucco, and the 1911 building is brick. Neither façade has architectural detailing or character. OVERVIEW OF BUILDING S HISTORY The building is first depicted on the 1890 Sanborn Insurance Map that depicts a three-story building with General Merchandise in one section and Groceries in the other. A notation also states Offices on the 2 nd and 3 rd stories. The 1891 Sanborn indicates stores on the ground floor but no additional information. 4
The Morris House and Lodgings were depicted on the 1902 Sanborn. Additionally, a stone foundation is noted south of the building. The 1910 Sanborn provides no new detail about the building. In 1910, Polk listed in its classified section Saloons, Andrew E. Cowles with partner J.C. Eddy operated a saloon on the ground floor. Hatfield and McDonald followed in 1915 under saloon listings. They were among the 170 saloons listed in Polk in 1915, the last year before the Evergreen state became dry. A permit for a Water Meter was issued to F.L. White on July 8, 1911. Frank L. White, of Moscow, Idaho had with his wife Addie, had owned the building since 1906 when they purchased from Luther B. Wood of Los Angeles. The Tourist Hotel, listed in Polk s classified section Furnished Rooms, was included in the 1910 to 1917 editions. An Electrical permit was issued on April 11, 1917 to the Tourist Hotel. On the ground floor, Joe Spirelli at City Market was issued a permit on February 1,1924 to alter the building for a market with a value of $1,180. He followed on May,1924 with a permit to alter for stores, a value of $350. In 1928, the Polk Directory listed MacMarr Stores at 202 South Washington Street. MacMarr was a chain (Safeway) and in 1930 listed some 23 other stores sprinkled about Spokane. Ted Weller, meats as well as Spinelli & Son Fruits also occupied this address. From 1924 to 1935, the Hotel Roberts occupied the upper floors of the building at 202½; they were vacant in 1936, and continued to house the Libby Apartments and Libby Rooms to 1940. Four storefronts are indicated on the 1928 (updated from 1910) Sanborn which includes the original building and the 1911 building. Prohibition ended in December 1933, and the bar business returned to the ground floor at the end of Prohibition in 1935 with the former saloons now coming under the Beer Parlors classification. Bunn & Reese electrical were granted a permit to wire a Beer Parlor on June 20,1935 with the Mayfair Tavern being listed for the first time. Mike Asan was the proprietor. The Mayfair was among 110 other listed beer parlors in the city, still below the 170 saloons the year before prohibition in 1915. The address 202½ did not exist after 1940 as the result of a demolition permit issued on July 1,1940 to Kruger & Ring to Wreck the two top stories of 3-story apartments. Electrical permits were issued in 1941, 1943, 1946, and 1949 to the Mayfair Tavern. 5
In 1945 Addie White sold the building to Stuart Wilson, who, in turn, sold the building to Plymouth Realty Company for $42,000 in 1947. The Mayfair made a transition in 1949 with alterations to the front, provided by a building permit to apply flex board & aluminum trim, issued on March 30,1949 with a value of $2,500. Modifications were also made to the interior to turn it from a tavern to a café. Photos from the Libby Collection (NW Museum of Arts and Culture) depict the shinny new interior with curved counter and cushy vinyl stools overlooking a sparkling kitchen, and booths lining the walls. The Mayfair was no longer a tavern, nor listed under Beer Parlors (although building permits through 1956 continued to use Mayfair Tavern). Michael Asan and John Perko purchased the building in 1953 from Plymouth Realty. Mike Asan, with new partner John Perko, continued to operate the new Mayfair Café that was now listed in the classifieds under Restaurants until 1963 when they sold it to R.W. Isaacs and Robert Wells. The Mayfair Tavern received a permit to modernize front of building in July 1956 for a value of $500. On February 13, 1958 Mayfair Café received a permit to Remodel font and stone veneer for Café and Cocktail Lounge with a value of $6,500 and work completed by AAA Construction Co. This is the second significant alternation to the building. The Mayfair Café, received a permit in June 13, 1967 to Dry wall, relocate entrance for value of $2000. At some point the windows of the southerly and central bays on the east façade were altered. The original openings were reduced by composite panel which significantly affected the character and aesthetics of the façade. A permit to add three partitions for the Mayfair Restaurant were issued on three partitions added on December 23, 1974. Roger Reiner took over the Mayfair Café and Cocktail Lounge around 1980 and became the owner in 1991. The Mayfair continues operation with Reiner as the owner. Although not shown by building permits, painting the flagstone ca. 2010, was a significant alteration since it is irreversible and eliminated any character from the 1958 remodel. This was exacerbated by the cladding of the upper portion of the façade with T-111 siding. 6
MAPS AND PHOTOS 8
MAYFAIR CAFÉ, 202 SOUTH WASHINGTON STREET (NE Corner of Block) 9
SITE USGS 7.5 Minute Quadrangle. Spokane NW, Wash. 1974. Photorevised 1986 202 S. WASHINGTON STREET SITE LOCATION N 1 = 2000 10
1. Looking NW Showing Context Along Washington Street 2. Looking SE at NW Corner Showing Context Along 2nd Avenue, West and North Facades 11
3. Looking SW Showing NE Corner, East and North Facades, of Mayfair 4. Looking West Showing East Facade Along Washington Street 12
5. Looking South at North Facade 6. Looking West Showing Southerly Entry Bay 13
7. Looking West at Central Entry Bay 8. Looking West at Northerly Entry Bay (Main) 14
9. Looking West Across Bar 10. Looking South Across Pool Room to South Wall 15
1890 SANBORN, P.16 16
1891 SANBORN, P.16 17
1902 SANBORN, P.16 18
1910 SANBORN, P.450 19
1910, UPDATED TO 1928, P.450 20
1952 SANBORN, P.450 21