This Building has History

Kinman House (303 North College Avenue)

This circa 1910 house represents the distinctive characteristics of a farmhouse and is associated with the Kinman family through multiple generations of ownership.

The Kinman’s son, Duane Kinman, served in World War II, and as a medic serving with Patton’s Third Army, performed the first battlefield tracheotomy using his pocketknife and a fountain pen, saving a man’s life. This earned Duane a commendation and the moniker “Foxhole Surgeon.”

The house was constructed for $4,500 within the 1909 Blalock Orchards plat shortly after it was recorded. The house was built for Simeon D. and Myrtle E. Kinman, who lived there through around 1956. The Kinmans were wheat farmers. The family has retained ownership of the property through 2019, with different relatives residing there through the decades.

The house has a cross-gable roof and hip roof clad in aluminum shingles. Clapboards clad the building with slender corner boards and decorative shingle work in the gable ends. A concave shingle molding extends along the base of the shingle field above the frieze board. The frieze board also serves as the header for the half-story windows. A tall water table wraps around the base of the first story. The building retains most of its wood double-hung windows.

Bennett House (36 NE Tremont Drive)

This circa 1962 Modern style split-entry house was designed by Fred R. Bennett, a professor of engineering at Walla Walla University. It was one of the first two houses constructed within the 1962 Mountain Vista Addition subdivision, which was filed at the request of Fred Bennett for Walla Walla College. It is considered the first subdivision in Eastern Washington to have undergrounded utilities.  Bennett, born in Boston, Massachusetts, named Tremont Drive after Tremont Street in his former hometown.

Fred R. Bennett designed and lived in the house with his wife Jane Ann from circa 1963 through about 2012. During World War II, Fred worked for the Navy, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and later the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships in Washington, D.C. He then attended Walla Walla College, followed by Washington State University. Fred earned an M.S. in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Science. He returned to Walla Walla College in 1961 to teach. During his career, Fred served as a port commissioner for the Port of Walla Walla and assistant chief of the College Place Fire Department. A building at the Walla Walla Regional Airport is named for him. He was also involved in ongoing Walla Walla College campus planning, and the design and construction of Walla Walla General Hospital from 1975 to 1976.

37 North College Avenue

This circa 1916 Craftsman house is a great example of the style with its prominent front porch and exposed rafter tails.

Important design elements include the clapboard siding with mitered outer corners and a flared base above the foundation. A frieze board separates the clapboards from the shingle cladding in the gable ends. Window openings have wide casings with decoratively cut angled outer header ends. The building retains its original wood single, paired, and triple groupings of one-over-one windows.

A low porch wall is clad in clapboard and supports tapered boxed piers carrying the outer edge of the porch’s shed roof. Vertical bead board clads the side walls of the shed roof extension. The front door is paneled with an upper lite and flanked by two side lights, with lower wood panels and upper lites.

Aplington House (18 North College Avenue)

This circa 1935 Tudor Revival Cottage has a significant 20-year association with Kenneth A. and Marguerite Aplington’s productive lives of important involvement with Walla Walla University students and university growth. The house was built by H. Russell Emmerson, refer to the 11 East Whitman Drive entry for his biography.

Kenneth and Marguerite moved into the house circa 1949 when Kenneth became chair of the English Department at the college, a role he retained until retiring in 1965. He continued to teach part-time through 1967. By 1941 they lived at 415 North College Avenue. Between 1937 through 1967, Marguerite worked as an accountant for Walla Walla College. She had graduated from Walla Walla College in 1927 with a major in education. Also known as “Dad” Aplington, Kenneth was actively involved in campus, alumni, and student activities. He coached the first winning team in the annual Walla Walla University Sonnenberg basketball contest that matched students living in residence halls against students living off campus and was an avid campus historian. The couple’s home was always open to students in need of someone to talk with.

In 1969, Dr. Paul Howard Holden, a professor of modern languages at Walla Walla College and married to Brenda Sue, moved into the house.

12 North College Avenue

This circa 1935 Tudor Revival Cottage is a great example of the style in College Place. The building’s front entrance configuration, use of shingles and stucco, and intact multiple-lite windows along the city’s main thoroughfare set it apart as a distinctive example within the city. The house was built by H. Russell Emmerson, refer to the 11 East Whitman Drive entry for his biography.

By 1956, Harold D. and Hilda Schwartz lived at the house. The couple had previously resided at 912, 24, and 16 North College Avenue. Throughout this time through his retirement circa 1959, Harold worked as the principal at Walla Walla College Academy. Hilda worked as an office worker at Walla Walla College.

By 1960 through 2019, Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University) owned this building, along with 18 North College, and used it for faculty housing. From 1959 through 1961, Charles W. Harter, a teacher at Walla Walla College, and his wife Elizabeth Harter, lived in the house. In 1962, another teacher at Walla Walla College lived in the house, Fred R. Bennett. Fred lived in the house immediately prior to building his own house at 36 NE Tremont Drive and during his involvement with the platting of the 1962 Mountain Vista Addition. In 1963, Paul R. Hellie moved into the house. He was married to Lois M. Hellie and worked as a heavy equipment operator with Walla Walla College. Lois worked as a secretary and business manager at the college. The building stood vacant in 1965, before being used as Conard Hall Annex 3 from circa 1967 through 1969.

Getzlaff House (17 North College Avenue)

This 1929 Tudor Revival Cottage is a well-executed example of this style. The building is notable locally for its high artistic value as an example of the Tudor Revival style that remains intact. The house was built by H. Russell Emmerson, refer to the 11 East Whitman Drive entry for his biography.

The house features a steeply-pitched, cross gable roof with a pair of prominent parallel front cross gables and boxed eaves. It is clad in stucco and horizontal lapped siding, with a prominent molding between the lap siding and stucco. A large elliptical arched 30-lite wood window provides a prominent visual feature on the front facade. The building retains its original windows, including distinctive, small round arched eight-lite windows. Simulated stone frames the round arched front entrance and the original wood door, which has a round arched viewing window and spindle grille. An original metal wall sconce flanks the doorway.

The house is within the 1909 Blalock Orchards plat (Blalock Fruit Company, John A. Finch president) and was built for $4,000 in 1929. Gustav Getzlaff purchased the property in 1909. Twenty years later he sold it to Gladiolus Getzlaff on March 6, 1929. By 1952 Rosa Elizabeth Johnson owned the property and she sold it to Bessie M. Bartsch. In 1956, Norman C. and Martha D. Taylor purchased it and they lived there through 1967. Norman worked as a building contractor.

11 East Whitman Drive

This circa 1930 Craftsman house embodies the Craftsman style with its roof form, siding, windows, and front entrance. The house was built by H. Russell Emmerson, his biography follows below.

The cross gable projecting out over the front entrance stoop is a distinctive design element. The roof features broad eave and gable overhangs with knee braces in the gable ends. V-groove boards clad the gable and eave soffits. Clapboard with mitered outer corners and a flared base above the foundation clads the building.

Window openings have wide casings with slight casing header overhangs and wood sills with a decorative molding below the sills. The house has wood sash windows in 3:1 and 6:1 double hung and three- and six-lite casement configurations. The front facade has a row of three-lite windows separated by narrow mullions. A cantilevered shed roof bay projects on the west facade with three three-lite casements.

Concrete stairs with metal pipe railings lead up to the front stoop. Tapered columns support the outer edge of the front cross gable. The original paneled wood door with three upper lites provides access to the interior.  

H. Russell Emmerson graduated from Walla Walla College with a degree in English and then taught that subject at Walla Walla College Academy.  He also became involved in the building trades and taught carpentry classes for the college.  During the 1930s, at a time when the Great Depression made construction projects difficult, he and his crews built several campus buildings during a period of restoration efforts after College Avenue was flooded in March-April 1931): the college garage on the southeast corner of College Avenue and 4 ^th  Streets (1932, now a storage building), and Conard Hall (1933). 

After Conard Hall was built, Emmerson left college employment due to Depression-related financial constraints at the school, and from 1934-1936 he built a number of houses in College Place and Walla Walla, including several listed in this story map, also as part of the refurbishing of College Avenue after the 1931 flood.  In 1936 he returned to college employment in time to finish the construction of Columbia Auditorium (1939; destroyed by fire in 1978).          

In 1939-1940, on the eve of World War II, Emerson and his crew completed two more buildings on College Avenue: a service station (1939-now the WWU Village Housing office) and the College Press building (1940, since demolished). 

During World War II Emmerson supervised the construction of Peterson Memorial Library (1944) at Walla Walla College.  It was a significant accomplishment to build a major campus building during a time of war-related materials shortages.

Kellogg Hall (17 South College Avenue)

Built in 1958, Kellogg Hall on the Walla Walla University campus possesses high artistic value and was part of the post-World War II growth in educational institutions. This Modern style concrete building fronts South College Avenue. The building is set into the topography of the existing site, with two stories above grade on the northwest corner and only one on the southeast corner.

Cladding consists of buff brick like the powerhouse and Sittner Hall, with a raked finish. Painted, corrugated metal panels clad the parapet. Windows consist of multiple-lite aluminum sash windows. Steel posts support the floors above and serve as mullions between groups of windows.

Named for Dr. Ernest C. Kellogg, president of the university from 1911 to 1917, the building reportedly had one of the largest vegetarian cafeterias in the state upon opening, with a seating capacity of approximately 700. Ellen Gould White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, had recommended a vegetarian diet. Despite this recommendation, Walla Walla College was the first Seventh-day Adventist college to offer a strictly vegetarian diet when it opened in 1892. The building functioned as a dining hall and special events venue.

12 SW Davis Avenue

This circa 1910 Craftsman house has a front gable roof with shed roof wall dormers on the north and south sides. The roof has broad eave and gable overhangs with exposed rafter ends, prominent barge boards, and knee braces with chamfered ends in the gable end and at the dormers.

Clapboard with mitered outer corners clads the building with a flare out at the first story base for a water table. Coursed shingles clad the gable end peaks and portions of the dormers above the main roofline. A broad frieze board with a projecting cornice molding transitions between the clapboard and shingles at the gable ends.

The house retains its original one-over-one wood windows with stile extensions, in single, paired and triple configurations.

The front entry consists of a full facade front porch just above grade. A solid clapboard clad railing wraps the porch and supports boxed posts carrying the clapboard clad beam below the outer edge of the porch roof.

Walla Walla University Church of Seventh-day Adventists (212 SW Fourth Street)

Built in 1962, the Walla Walla University Church of Seventh-day Adventists faces east towards the Walla Walla University campus. The building has one of the largest pipe organs in the Pacific Northwest and, upon completion in 1962, was one of the largest church buildings in the Pacific Northwest with seating for 2,500.

The Modern style, two-story ridge steeple form church has an irregular plan due to wing additions. The main building consists of a rectangular plan oriented east-west lengthwise, with an angled fin wall at the front supporting the steeple. Cast stone decorative panels flank the steeple with the main building facade stepping back and down in a fan-like form. The spire is crenelated just above the front parapet with a pyramidal metal clad spire wrapped in a spiral fashion by a raised band ending at the point.

Heubach Chapel is the side gable single-story north wing, and the Children’s Wing is the single-story northwest wing (Children’s Wing). Cladding on the main building consists of buff brick with a raked face. The two vertical panels of cast stone blocks flanking the spire feature a decorative open pattern. The north and south side facades feature exterior brick buttresses the full height of the wall with cast stone caps. Elliptical arched window panels extend between the buttresses. The central four of these bays have stained glass windows at the lower stories with the brick panels at the top.

The main building windows consist of windows with clear glass having a wavy pattern on the north and south facades, a recent senior class gift, with smaller clear glass aluminum casement sash on the rear southwest portion of the building.

The front main entrance to the building consists of three sets of aluminum frame single-lite doors to either side of the steeple base. An aluminum-clad canopy with decorative grille work projects out slightly over the entrances.

Melvin K. West Fine Arts Center (290 South College Avenue)

Built in 1966, the Melvin K. West Fine Arts Center is an excellent example of the Modern style, has high artistic value, and is associated with Walla Walla University’s education and architectural history. Architect Phillip R. Balsiger of Wilsonville, Oregon, designed the building and College Construction was the contractor.

The Modern style, reinforced concrete and steel structure is integrated into the landscape. The use of ribbon windows, the flat roof with no decorative detailing, and a combination of brick and stucco cladding materials characterize the building.

The southeast corner of the building has a breezeway framing a view from across the campus into an inner courtyard area with a planter and single ornamental maple. The building interior has a notable extension of brick and exposed aggregate material into the interior finishes.

Village Hall (207 South College Avenue)

The circa 1920 Village Hall possesses high artistic value and is associated with Walla Walla University’s founding and the development of the City of College Place. The two-story former Seventh-day Adventist church was designed by architect Arthur Wheatley.

The building has a cross gable roof with an inset corner steeple with a crenelated parapet. The main roof features broad eave and gable overhangs with knee braces in the gable ends and an enclosed soffit with a fascia board at the eaves. Gables have prominent barge boards with decoratively cut ends.

Cladding consists of parging at the foundation and basement level that is scored and textured to replicate ashlar stone. The first and second stories are clad with a textured cream-colored brick with narrow mortar joints and an off-white mortar. The gable ends and upper portion of the tower are clad with stucco.

Basement windows have purple obscure glass in the upper lites with plain obscure glass in the bottom lite. First- and second-story windows have highly ornate stained-glass designs in the upper and lower sash. All windows have wood brick moldings with a decorative profile and a wood sill. Entrances at the base of the steeple have round arched openings with round arched transoms. All other doorways have flat headers. Prominent metal wall sconces with colored glass lites flank each of the first story entrances.

301 South College Avenue

Built circa 1920, this building’s original use is believed to be a bank. The one-part block, one-story building consists of two sections: the west original portion, and a rear east addition. The addition continued the same design elements as the original but used slightly different brick.

Brick veneer clads the building, with a cream-colored brick at the front portion and a buff-colored brick at the rear east portion. The cream-colored brick is the same type used on nearby Village Hall and appears to be cementitious, rather than clay. Mortar joints are struck with a red tinted mortar. A dentil course wraps the building facade at the base of the parapet, with a darker tan rowlock brick course above. Brick coursing projects at the outer building corners to articulate piers, with decorative triangular tiles at the top of each pier. A darker soldier course wraps along the base of each wall at the sidewalk level. Stucco clads the east and south facades.

105 SE Fourth Street

Built circa 1915, this one-story former church has a corner inset steeple.

The cross-gable roof has modest enclosed eave and gable overhangs. Cladding consists of horizontal v-groove tongue-and-groove boards with corner boards and a fascia along the top edge of the walls and the steeple. A water table wraps the building above the vertical board skirting, enclosing the post-and-pier foundation.

Windows consist of wood sash in single and triple groupings. Windows on the east and west facades of the main portion have multiple diamond-shaped upper lites over a single lower lite. Upper lites contain stained glass. Each opening features wide casings with a prominent hood and a wood sill with a thin molding below the sill. The steeple features a round arched opening on the north, south, and west sides.

U.S. Post Office (500 South College Avenue)

Built in 1961 the post office is associated with the city’s post World War II growth amid the expansion of Walla Walla University.

The Modern style, one-story building features a flat roof with parapets. Brick veneer clads the building with enameled metal panel cladding along the mid portion of the south alley facade. Veneer bricks are extra-long and offset at roughly the width of one brick to create a uniform pattern along the facades and transition at the outer building corners.

Windows consist of a two-lite aluminum sash on the south facade with a steel lintel, and rowlock brick header and sill. The rear facade features three 12-lite steel sash windows.

College Court Apartments (17 SW Sixth Street)

These circa 1930 Craftsman style buildings were constructed as two-unit apartments and known by 1951 as the College Court Apartments. They convey a late use of the Craftsman style and a middle-housing type that provided increased density in a residential neighborhood. Tenants generally changed after a couple of years and consisted mostly of working, low- to middle-income individuals and families, rather than students.

Residents in 1956 included Peter L. and Beatrice Henzel and Harold and Hettie Gardner. Peter worked as a nursing assistant at the Veterans Administration Hospital and Beatrice worked as a marker at Key City Cleaners. Harold worked as a presser at Key City Cleaners. Residents in 1959 included Mack A. Moore, owner of Moore Monuments; Don Sweet; and Mrs. Mary Robinson. Vern Dillard and Robert and Linda Kessell followed in 1962; Robert was a station agent with West Coast Airlines.

The buildings integrated with the surrounding single-family residential context by utilizing similar form and architectural detailing. These buildings were smaller than the larger multiple-family housing developments, such as the Faculty Court Apartments (ca. 1949, altered, 105–119 E Whitman Avenue), the multiple individual cottages at Kahler’s (ca. 1948, 707 SE Birch Avenue, and 223 SE Roseville Lane, a.k.a. Johnson’s Birch Street Court), and the Federal Housing Project (demolished, 20 NE Birch Street) and the McCaw Housing Project (demolished, 18 NE Birch Street). The Faculty Court Apartments were originally named the Atomic Apartments, and the three buildings in the unit were designated Proton, Neutron, and Electron. The buildings were similar in scale to the apartment at 30 SE Fourth Street, built ca. 1940 and the College Place Motel (ca. 1948, 116 SW Sixth Street).

Conard House (620 SE Date Avenue)

This circa 1893 building was one of the first houses constructed within the College Place Plat No. 2 filed in 1892. George W. Conard purchased the property from the Seventh-day Adventist Church on January 23, 1893 and constructed a house. John B. Wilson bought the property from Conard on November 27, 1896. By 1941, Homer C. and Geraldine M. Snider lived at the house. Homer worked as a salesman. Otto A. Munson purchased the house in 1949.

By 1951, Manford T. and Margery V. Rennings lived at the house. They operated Rennings’ Real Estate at 417 South College Avenue in College Place. By 1953, Margery worked as a nurse aid at St. Mary’s Hospital. In 1953, the Rennings transferred ownership of the house to Otto A. and Ruth A. Munson.

By 1954, Zdravko and Wilhelmina Roska lived in the house. Zdravko worked at Mojonnier and Sons, a wholesale produce company. The couple remained in the house through 1975.

830 SE Birch Avenue

This circa 1945 single-family log house fronts SE Birch Avenue. The building has a cross gable roof with clipped gable ends and clad with asphalt composition shingles. Eaves feature exposed, decoratively cut rafter ends, with decoratively cut barge boards at the gable ends. Bead board clads the open gable and eave soffits. A pair of slender posts with chamfered corners carries wood beams with cut ends supporting the roof. A river rock gable end chimney with sloped shoulders services the building.

Cladding consists of the exterior log surfaces. Logs are squared, top and bottom, with a thick chinking band running between individual logs. Log ends are squared on the inner vertical face to allow alternating butt joints.

Windows consist of single and grouped one-over-one wood sash with stile extensions on the upper sash. A small six-lite casement window is located on the south facade adjacent to the chimney. Window openings feature wide casings and wood sills. Front window openings have exterior two-lite wood storms. The south facade features a group of three one-over-one windows separated by wood mullions. The north facade features single and paired one-over-one windows.

825 SE Birch Avenue

This circa 1905 building occupies a prominent corner lot within the 1892 College Place plat filed by the General Conference Association of the Seventh-day Adventists. The house transitioned from single-family to multiple-family use and back to single over the decades.

By 1944, Lillie G. Roberts owned the house, selling it to Merle V. and Mamie Griffin. Merle worked as a baker at the Walla Walla Baking Company, which became Snyder’s Bakery by 1953. Mamie worked as the superintendent of Dorcas Home (112 SW First Street) through 1957. By 1955, Merle worked as a laborer at Milton Nursery, and then a lumber grader at the Athena Mill.

By 1962, part of the building had been converted for apartment use and was listed as 825-1/2, with Harley G. Witzel living in the rental unit. Renters by 1969 included Victor Purvis, a student at Walla Walla College, and wife Connie K.; along with Michael Otter, a student at Walla Walla College, and wife Beverly LaVon, a nurse (LPN) with Dr. Bohlman.

306 SW 10th Street

This circa 1915 building is an excellent example of the Queen Anne—Free Classic style and possess high artistic value.

The house has a pyramidal roof with a front cross gable. There is an ornate metal finial at the peak of the roof. Eaves are boxed and gable ends enclosed, both with minimal overhangs. The gable end features prominent rake molding and a bed molding at the transition between the soffit and shingle gable end cladding.

Cladding consists of clapboard with mitered outer corners. A broad frieze board and molding wrap around the top of the exterior walls. The clapboard flares out at the base of the first story wall to provide a water table above the foundation. The gable end features fish scale shingle cladding.

Window openings feature wide casings with prominent hoods at the first story and wood sills with a molding below the length of the sill. There is a round window in the gable end with curved casings and decorative trim at the casing joints.

A wraparound porch extends along the front south and side east facades below a hip roof. Columns support a boxed beam below the outer edge of the hip roof. The outer southeast corner of the porch roof curves along with the porch deck and associated moldings.

1310 SE Broadway Avenue

This circa 1924 one-story residence faces north towards a similar building constructed on the other side of the driveway accessing the site.

The building has a cross gable roof with flush gable ends and eaves. Gable ends feature prominent rake moldings with decoratively cut returns. The cross gable projects out over the entrance stoop on the north side of the building and is carried on two slender posts.

Wood shingles clad the building with metal caps at the outer building corners. Vertical board with notched ends clads the gable ends.

Window openings have wood casings with a slight raised outer profile and wood sills. The original wood windows consist of 8:8 windows.

1320 SE Broadway Avenue

This circa 1947 Minimal Traditional style, one-and-a-half-story residence has an L-shaped plan. The building is set back from the street with a driveway along the south side.

The building has a cross gable roof with a main side gable and small front cross gable. Gable ends feature decorative rake moldings and narrow barge boards with slight decorative extensions at the ends.

Textured stucco clads the building with wood lap siding in the gable ends. The stucco corners are rounded at the window and doorway jambs. Window openings feature narrow casings with wood sills. Projecting sub sills are clad with stucco. Windows consist of fixed single-lite picture windows on the front facade, and 1:1 sash for the majority of first story windows.

1408 SE Broadway Avenue

Built circa 1927 and relocated to the site circa 1940, this Craftsman house has a cross gable roof with broad eave and gable overhangs; with exposed rafter ends and purlins with chamfered ends at the gable ends. Gable ends also feature wide barge boards. Gable end and eave soffits are clad with v-groove board. Textured stucco clads the building. Windows feature wide casings with raised outer edge profiles and projecting wood sills.

Lutton House (424 SE Scenic View Drive)

This circa 1950 ranch house embodies the distinctive characteristics of mid-20th century residential construction and possesses high artistic value. The combination of building form, cladding, window grille, and details on the railing and roof make this house a unique example of mid-20th century residential architecture within the city.

It illustrates the important achievements of Paul E. Lutton, owner and operator of Paul Lutton’s Professional Pharmacy, who lived in the residence from 1954 through ca. 1975 with Flora Mae Lutton.

The Luttons purchased the house in 1954, shortly after its construction. The couple previously lived at 603 E Cherry Street. Lutton was a pharmacist and had opened a a pharmacy in downtown Walla Walla at 8 E Alder Street in 1948 as well as operating one at 120 E Birch Street. In 1956 he consolidated his operation to the latter location and called it Paul Lutton’s Professional Pharmacy. Both Paul and Flora worked there, and they had a pharmacy car to provide free prescription deliveries. The pharmacy was in operation through 1969.