Great Finds in Washington: The Arctic Club Hotel

The Arctic Club's amazing exterior with carved walrus's.

I just returned from a short vacation spending a few days in Seattle in route to Spokane to visit family. I had never been to Washington before and discovered some great places that I wanted to share. From great antiques to historic hotels, there is a lot to see in that state!

The front desk
The hotel is filled with framed photos of the members of the old Arctic Club.

Awhile back I had blogged about the Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and thought it would be a great idea to stay there before heading to Spokane. I was not disappointed. This hotel has so much old world charm!

Two amazing old glass domes with vintage shirt collars flank the front desk. The domes are lit and really stand out with the hotel's dim ambiance.
Wonderful display of antique top hats & derby hats behind the front desk
I just love these valet chairs that Candra Scott uses in some of her hotels. So stylish and masculine. I'd love to have them as dining chairs.

The newly renovated hotel was an exclusive gentlemen's club formed in 1908 and filled with members who had made their wealth in Alaska with Klondike gold. The building ranks #1 spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Walrus door numbers outside the guest rooms
I just love this vintage-inspired glass "bath" door in the guest room. And, all the rooms have Kiehl's products, which is a treat. Don't worry about having to bring your own shampoo or conditioner!
The lobby has Deco-style sofas and chairs. They have these wonderful old "airlplane covers." A great touch. Of course I asked if the hotel sold them, but unfortunately they don't.

Designer, Candra Scott did an amazing job with this hotel. There are extra-special touches such as room keys with the photos of the club members and antique-style newspapers in each guest room with old advertising. Love it!

Even the room keys have vintage photos of the club members
Decorative "Do Not Disturb" signs
If you want to use the hotel's computers, the lobby has these cool desks. Old books and newspapers around. Love the lamps.

If you're traveling to Seattle you should definitely check out this hotel. It's a small hotel full of charm. It feels as though you've gone back in time.

Little Vito loved it!2034418669293558368

Play on Words

Di over at Designer's Block posted about this clever website, Wordle. You can input a selection of words or the URL of your blog and it will come up with random "word clouds" from your text. You can also change the colors and fonts. See what I did here with my blog address. Fun! Try it out here...

1881239355854371013

John Lattimer: A True Collector of Oddities

The late Dr. John Lattimer

I just stumbled upon this interesting story from the New York Times. Evan Lattimer, daughter of the late prominent Columbia University urologist, John Lattimer, is having to sift through her father's estate of over 3,000 eclectic items. Lattimer was a renowned collector of relics, many of which are quite quirky to say the least. Some of the items include a bloodstained collar that Abraham Lincoln wore the night he was shot and the severed penis that may or may not have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. Crazy, huh?

Items owned by Abraham Lincoln, like these glasses, were particularly sought by Dr. Lattimer.
W. C. Fields loved a good top hat. He wore this one during the filming of "Poppy" (1936).

Evan recalled childhood memories inspired by artifacts of her fathers like Lee Harvey Oswald’s letters. When the siblings were adolescents in the 1960s, she said, “he’d put us at the correct distance and angle” to fire a rifle at a cadaver from the barn roof, to demonstrate the lone gunman theory, she said. “He’d say, ‘Well, there’s your target, see how you do,’ and we could do it when we were kids!”

Lee Harvey Oswald's Marine Corps score book documented his accuracy.

You can read more about the story here.

Photos and captions from the nytimes.com5605639006557218813