Elias Devoe House
history : victorian homes : Elias Devoe House
538 Lincoln Street Built / 1888
Elias Devoe hired George Starrett to build the wood frame of this home. To advertise his brick
company, Devoe had the entire exterior constructed in brick. Devoe was a partner of C.P. Wakeman
and Co., a contracting firm that did most of the masonry in Port Townsend during the boom period.
Since the local brick was soft, it was stuccoed to protect it from the weather, and to show that the exterior was brick, the red stucco had raised and painted ridges to represent the mortar between the bricks.
Queen Anne in style, the residence set new standards of taste in Port Townsend at a time when Villa-style architecture was the norm. Devoes desire to display a brick facade was better suited to the Queen Anne style.
Elias Devoe and his wife Carrie, who was a descendant of Ethan Allen, moved to Port Townsend in 1883. Soon the Devoes rose to prominence when Elias became a city council member. Carrie died of gout in 1890 and Elias lost the next year in foreclosure.
The homes interior has fourteen foot ceilings and a silver gaslight fixture in the staircase hall.
history : victorian homes : Elias Devoe House