Apartment houses began to appear in Seattle as early as 1890, when residents without family homes often lived in boarding houses and residential hotels. By 1910, as population growth outpaced development and house ownership diminished, renters enjoyed the convenience of apartments, which allowed for more privacy than boarding in a private home.

Apartment construction increased throughout the 1920s. This photograph shows the 1927 English Tudor style apartment building at 1320 Queen Anne Avenue designed by Fred Anhalt. The building contains only nine apartments, reflecting Anhalt's wish to create spacious individualized units, rich in detail and view, that people could consider permanent homes. The nine units in Anhalt's Queen Anne apartment house continue to be rented as of 2025. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Caption on photo: 1320 Queen Anne Ave. Built by - Fred Anhalt - Seattle
Stamped on verso: Pierson Photo Co. Commercial Photographers 401 Bay Bldg. Main 0204 Seattle, Wash.

Caption information source: Apartment House Development on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill Prior to World War II, Master's thesis by Frances Amelia Sheridan on the Queen Anne Historical Society website (http://www.qahistory.org).