Historic Timeline
Below is a brief timeline of the Lake Court Apartments history from 1917 to 1970, beginning with the original houseboat colony by early Seattle pioneers through the sale of the property to the family who owned the Lake Court Apartments from 1940 to 2024.
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Click the images to see historic photographs and reference materials for each time period.
1917-1925
Houseboat Rentals
The property where Lake Court Apartments stands today was purchased by a Seattle pioneering family in 1917 and 1919.
John Doxy, along with sons Ellery and William owned and managed several rental cottages and houseboats at this site between 1919 and 1925 and were active members of the Madison Park community.
In 1925, the houseboats were sold to prepare for the construction of the Shoremont Apartments.
James Patrick Lee, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
1925-1926
Shoremont Apartments
Articles of incorporation were posted in November 1925 for the Shoremont Company, Inc. listing William, Ellery and John Doxy as chief incorporators.
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The Shoremont Apartments were designed by William J. Bain, Sr. The site location was the only block in Madison Park that was zoned for apartment houses.
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An announcement was made in the Seattle Daily Times in January 1926 listing the Shoremont as "the only lakeside apartment in Seattle".
Seattle Daily Times, April 19 1926
1928-1929
Lakecrest
Paul Thiry was living at the Shoremont and had not yet completed his architecture degree at University of Washington when he was asked by William Doxy to design the new addition to the property.
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The grand opening of the Lakecrest was announced in the April 21, 1929 Seattle Daily Times listing amenities such as a sunken pool, natural rock seating and a white Honolulu sand beach.
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In addition to the residential apartment homes, the article refers to the Lake Crest Inn: “A dining room in the upper court” to serve residents and the public, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Seattle Daily Times, April 21 1926
1926-1937
Apartment Life & Tenants
The nature of this unique apartment configuration grew to foster a sense of security, exclusivity and
community. Society columns frequently mentioned parties and dinners hosted by tenants on site. Tenants
developed close relationships with one another and with the Doxy family.
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Notable tenants of Shoremont and Lakecrest during this time period included Adolph B. Spreckels II, heir to the Spreckels sugar fortune, and orchestra leader Victor Meyers, the Lieutenant Governor of Washington State (1932-1952) who later became Washington’s Secretary of State in 1956.
Seattle Daily Times, February 17 1935
1938-1940
Doxy Foreclosure
Notices of public auction following foreclosure on the Shoremont and Lakecrest properties were placed in the Seattle Municipal News in 1938.
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The apartment group was first referred to as “The Lake Court Apartments” in the Seattle Daily Times in May of 1938.
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Notable tenants of Shoremont and Lakecrest during this time period included Marion Kinney (née Camozzi) a union organizer who was investigated for Communist activity following WWII, and Cora Sterling, the first woman in Washington State to hold a transit pilot’s license, who had an apartment at the Lakecrest at the time of her death during a plane crash in 1940.
Seattle Daily Times, May 25 1938
1941
Lake Court Apartments Sold
The sale of The Lake Court Apartments was announced in January 1941, naming the buyers as “Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Heathman and Mr. and Mrs. H.P. Peister.” with the seller listed as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Seattle Daily Times, January 26 1941
1952
Anhalt Addition
Noted Seattle apartment developer Frederick Anhalt had designed the family home of Harold and Madge Heathman before he retired in 1942.
In 1952, he designed the newest addition to the Lake Court as a favor to the Heathmans. This is documented in the book "Apartments by Anhalt" by Lawrence Kriesman.
Courtesy of Seattle Department of Planning & Development
1965-1967
Lawsuit with State of WA
Following the construction of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in 1963, the owners of the Lake Court Apartments sued the State of Washington, alleging that wave patterns caused by the construction of the bridge had severely damaged the apartment foundation and underpinnings. Owners Harold L. Heathman and Esther M. Peister were awarded $40,000 in 1967 to repair the damages.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1966
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1970
Lake Court Apartments sold
In 1970, Harold Heathman and sister Esther sold the Lake Court Apartments to Harold's son, Michael W. Heathman, of Palm Springs, California.
The Lake Court Apartments remained in the ownership of the Heathman family until August 2024.
Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives