GREEN, Elmer Ellsworth (1861-1928) lived and worked in Seattle, Wash. but his influence on residential architecture spread far beyond the Puget Sound area. Green was among the first American architects from the State of Washington to publish his own pattern book of plans for houses in the California Bungalow or Western Stick style. Entitled “The Practical Plan Book” (1912), Green presented 60 different plans for residences which were later replicated in various locations in the Capitol Hill and Mount Baker neighbourhoods of Seattle, Wash.. An illustrated example of one of these Seattle houses, located on 32nd Avenue South, appears in Jeffrey K. Oschner, Shaping Seattle Architecture, 2014, 97-98, illus.
Green opened an office in nearby Victoria, B.C. in 1912, and more than a dozen examples of his residential designs, based on the plans published by Green, were built there during the period from 1912 to 1915. Many of these houses have recently been identified and are still standing today (as of 2020). Almost all bear the hallmark feature of low-slung roofs and deeply notched barge boards over large verandahs and front porches, an instantly recognizable feature of his bungalow designs. It is conceivable (indeed likely) that many other private residences based on his plans were built in the Vancouver region, and on Vancouver Island, but have yet to be located.
Green was born in Janesville, Minnesota on 8 January 1861 and worked in Canada in 1896 and in 1899-1904 before he moved to Seattle in 1905. He maintained his own office there from 1907, and his branch office in Victoria was active from 1912 to 1915. His Victoria office closed in 1915, and he later moved to California and died at Eureka, Calif. on 18 February 1928 (biog. Jeffrey K. Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture, 2014, 441; Donald Luxton, Building The West, 2003, 341, 502, illus. with list of works; biog. and port. by Michael Houser, State Architectural Historian, Washington State Dept. of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, Olympia, Wash. [online].
(works in Victoria)
DURBAN STREET, near Richardson Street, residence for the Bungalow Construction Co. Ltd., 1912 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 53-54, illus.)
ROCKLAND AVENUE, at Joan Crescent, residence for Eric Ulin, 1912 (M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria’s Architecture, 1996, 184, illus.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 211-12, illus.)
FAIRFIELD ROAD, at Fairfield Place, a mansion for Guy S. Brown, 1912 (Vancouver & Victoria Architecturally, 1911, unpag., illus.; Pacific Coast Architect [San Francisco], iii, Sept. 1912; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 68-69, illus.)
OSCAR STREET, near Linden Street, residence for John McKay, 1912 (D. Luxton, 502, list of works)
OAK BAY, residence for Royal H. Green, Bowker Street at St. Ann Street, 1912 (D. Luxton, 502, list of works)
SOUTHGATE STREET, near Cook Street, residence for William Scowcroft, 1913 (D. Luxton, 502, list of works)
CANADIAN PUGET SOUND LUMBER CO. LTD., Store Street at Discovery Street, office block, 1912; demol. (D. Luxton, 502, list of works)
ROBERTSON STREET, near Ross Street, residence for Walter Harlock, 1912-13 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 186, illus.)
SAANICH, residence for Cyril de Sausmarez, Richmond Road, 1912-13 (Donald Luxton & Jennifer Barr, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 171, illus. & descrip.)
SAANICH, residence for Alexander Blyth, Qu’Appelle Street, 1913 (Donald Luxton & Jennifer Barr, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 199, illus. & descrip.)
BEECHWOOD AVENUE, at Lillian Road, a residence for the Bungalow Construction Co. Ltd., 1913 (inf. Victoria Heritage Foundation, Heritage Register, designation 2012)
EMPRESS AVENUE, at Vancouver Street, residence for George Leach, 1913-14 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 118-19, illus. & descrip.)
SAANICH, residence for Capt. Robert N. Walker, Burnside Road West at Heritage Lane, 1915 (M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria’s Architecture, 1996, 262, illus.; Donald Luxton & Jennifer Barr, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 46, illus. & descrip.)
(works in Seattle, Wash. and region)
GREEN & AIKEN
BEAUMONT APARTMENTS, Summit Avenue near East Pike Street, 1909 (list of works from Washington State Dept. of Archaeology & Historic Preservation)
MARYSVILLE, WASH., Union Power Co. Plant, 1909 (list of works from Washington State Dept. of Archaeology & Historic Preservation)
E. E. GREEN
BEN LOMOND APARTMENTS, Bellevue Court East near Belmont Avenue, 1910 (list of works from Washington State Dept. of Archaeology & Historic Preservation)
BOSTONIAN APARTMENTS, 1913 (list of works from Washington State Dept. of Archaeology & Historic Preservation)