Another in a continuing series of drawings documenting sights in Fremont. Here, the Fremont Troll lurks beneath the north end of the Aurora Bridge, clutching a Volkswagen bug in the his left hand. The writing on the plaque that I copied beneath the sketch explains the Troll’s origin:

“The Fremont Troll was designed and built by Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead, with help from the community. The Fremont Arts Council sponsored the project, which hoped to build a greater sense of place in the neighborhood through art, and with it a stronger community…”

You can tell by the scratchy lettering it was much colder than I had realized when walking along North 36th Street to get to the site. There’s a lot of construction activity at this end of the bridge with the state seismically reinforcing the bridge supports, which I conveniently ignored.

We had a great turnout yesterday when the Seattle Urban Sketchers group met at the Stimson-Green Mansion for its monthly sketching session.

Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter designed the residence for C. D. Stimson, early Seattle industrialist, and his wife Harriet Stimson. It was completed in 1901. In 1915 Joshua Green, a leading figure in the Puget Sound boating industry and later a banker, purchased the house from the Stimsons and maintained almost all of its original features. When Green died in 1975, the Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority purchased the property. After working on its restoration, Historic Seattle sold the property in December 1977 to Priscilla (Patsy) Collins, granddaughter of C. D. and Harriet Stimson, with an easement protecting the main house, carriage house, and grounds from demolition, alteration, or remodeling. In 2001 Collins donated the mansion to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, which provides continued stewardship.

As an example of eclectic architecture, the house’s English Tudor exterior features half-timber work, wooden gables, and pointed arches, while the interior rooms combine elements from various historical styles including Moorish, Romanesque, Gothic, Neoclassical, and the Renaissance.

The first drawing is a 20-minute sketch of the exterior I did while waiting for the 10 am meeting time. The second is a view of the central hallway looking out from under a Romanesque style arch supported by clusters of small columns. The space ascends the main stairway to the upper two floors and extends back to a warm, sunny dining room on axis with the front entry foyer. I always enjoy drawng these kinds of transitional spaces because of the multiple viewpoints they offer.