QUEEN ANNE

Once the summer retreat for Native tribes, site of the city’s first children’s orthopedic hospital and believed to be the location to the nation’s first sanitary fill, Queen Anne has evolved over the decades into one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the region.

Positioned on the highest hill of the city (456 feet above sea level), Queen Anne is sectioned into five residential areas: the North slope that faces Fremont and includes Seattle Pacific University, the East that looks toward Aurora Avenue and Lake Union, the South slope – known as Uptown, bordered by Belltown – the mostly quieter West side that borders with Interbay, and the crown of the hill that features a high-density, commercial/residential mix.

The neighborhood acquired its name for the many Queen Anne-styled homes built in the early 20th century, although few of those stately residences remain. TV in the Pacific Northwest got its start on top of the hill in 1948 when the station that would become KING (channel 5) began daily broadcasts from a grocery store converted to a studio next to the transmitter.

Queen Anne includes Seattle Center, which is now home to the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Pacific Science Center and Climate Pledge Arena (home to the Seattle Kraken NHL franchise and Seattle Storm of the WNBA). The area – land donated to the city by the heirs of David Denny, one of the first white settlers in Seattle – hosted the Century 21 Exposition, better known as the World’s Fair, in 1962.

A 484 sq. ft. cabin – built for Denny from trees on Queen Anne – is thought to be the city’s first purpose-built real estate office. The so-called Denny Cabin was constructed in 1889 and located just west of present-day Seattle Center. It has since been preserved and moved to Federal Way.

Arguably its most famous native son is Robert Galer, who attended Queen Anne High School and the University of Washington before becoming a career military man and receiving the Medal of Honor for participating in a month-long attack in the Pacific that destroyed 27 Japanese aircraft. A street is named after Galer, with the road extending almost uninterrupted from Magnolia, through Queen Anne, to Madison Park.

The densely populated neighborhood features more than 170 condominiums and co-op buildings, both original and converted apartments, including:

  • 200 West Highland, a luxury, contemporary condo overlooking Kerry Park and the city skyline, at West Highland Drive and 2nd Avenue West
  • Queen Anne High School, the 1908-built school was converted 94 years later into 137  residences, at Galer Street between 2nd Avenue North and 3rd Ave. N.
  • Queen Anne Ocean View, a 51-unit condo that offers views of Elliott Bay to top-floor residents, at 13th Avenue West and Gilman Drive W.
  • Residences at Fifth Avenue North, one of the largest Uptown residences with 65 units, where 5th Ave. N. meets Aloha Street.

Don’t be confused by similarly named condo buildings in Queen Anne. You have the Selano, Serano and Siena, as well as the Taylor, Taylor Anne, Taylor-Lee and Taylor Place!

Will Springer
Residential Real Estate Consultant

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Queen Anne

QUEEN ANNE HOME SALES AND SOLD, LAST 5 YEARS