The St. Nicholas School operated between 1910–1971, and was originally established to provide girls in Seattle with an elite East Coast-style preparatory education. Set on the hill, the school helped define the cultural character of North Capitol Hill for decades. Since 1971, the building has continued to serve the neighborhood as a campus for Lakeside Middle School and an arts hub for Seattle Theatre Group, before being acquired by Saint Mark’s Cathedral in 2003.

The school was designed by the renowned firm Bebb & Gould, who are responsible for other local icons such as the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington and the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. It is an example of Collegiate Gothic architecture, a style characterized by red brick, cast stone trim, and large multilight windows typical of prestigious educational institutions of the early 20th century.

Disparities in housing access and generational wealth persist in our city and in the neighborhood where the cathedral was built nearly a century ago. As a historically white institution, Saint Mark’s acknowledges its important responsibility to respond to the exclusion and marginalization of Black residents, and seeks to undertake a process of listening, transformation, and hospitality that begins the work of racial reconciliation on North Capitol Hill.

The creation of affordable housing and a corresponding community-based organization are part of the Cathedral’s ongoing efforts to go beyond words and use its campus to repent and repair the harm and injustice that have historically kept people out of the neighborhood.