Gould family

The Gould Family Papers center around Carl Freylinghuysen Gould (1873-1939), a prominent Seattle architect. Gould designed over 20 buildings on the University of Washington campus, including the Henry Suzzallo library. He also designed the Seattle Asian Art Museum (previously the Seattle Art Museum), the Marine Hospital (now the headquarters of Amazon.com), and many other notable structures in the Puget Sound area.

Carl F. Gould was born in New York City into a prominent New York family. He graduated from Philips Exeter Academy in 1894 and from Harvard University with an A.B. in 1898. From 1898 to 1903 he studied architecture and fine art at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.

On his return to the United States, Gould worked for a number of years as a draughtsman in several architectural firms, and in 1906 formed the partnership firm Carpenter, Blair and Gould in New York City. Perhaps due in part to three brothers-in-law all practicing architecture in New York (Walter Blair, Edward York, and Dana Swan), in 1908 Gould moved to Seattle on an impulse. He started out in Seattle as a draughtsman, but in 1914 joined with Charles H. Bebb to form the architectural firm Bebb & Gould.

In 1913 Gould was asked to lecture on architecture at the University of Washington, an opportunity that eventually led him to establish the University’s Department of Architecture in 1914. Gould served as professor and chair of the department until 1926, while at the same time practicing professionally with Bebb & Gould.

Gould was a founding member of the Seattle City Planning Commission, the Seattle Fine Arts Society, and the Seattle Art Institute, as well as being active in numerous other architectural and civic organizations. He also belonged to the Rainier and University clubs and was counted among the prominent citizens of Seattle. Bebb & Gould designed the 1920s addition to the Rainier Club, as well as homes for many of Seattle’s affluent families.

Both of Gould’s parents claimed descent from prominent New York families. His father, Charles Judson Gould, was a successful New York merchant and financier and his mother, Annie Laurie Westbrook Gould, held property in the city that had passed through her family for two hundred years. Carl Gould and his six siblings (five sisters and a brother) grew up in the Gould’s New York City apartment, and Suncliff, their country home in Tarrytown. The Gould children were educated in leading New England schools, and all accompanied their parents on European trips, where their appreciation for art and architecture was fostered. Carl’s mother was an avid arts patron and collected the works of relatively unknown (at the time) young artists, such as Winslow Homer and Rockwell Kent. Appreciation for the arts has pervaded the Gould family through generations; among other family members, Anne Hauberg, nee Anne Westbrook Gould, granddaughter and namesake of Carl’s mother, has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and been an important Seattle arts patron.

Gould married Dorothy Wheaton Fay (1890-1976) in 1915, and together they had three children: Carl, Jr. (1916-1992), Anne (1917-), and John (1925-). All three children remained in the Seattle area. Carl, Jr., practiced architecture and John became a research engineer. The Goulds divided their time between Topsfield, their summer home on Bainbridge Island (built in 1915 and designed by Gould), and the Gould home at 1058 East Lynn Street, built in 1921 and also designed by Gould.

A local historian, writer, and active member of Seattle society, Dorothy Fay Gould was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She attended Broadway High School in Seattle and prepared for college at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr before entering Vassar. She graduated in 1912 and returned to Seattle, and it was while teaching freshman English at the University of Washington that she met the new professor of architecture, Carl Gould.

Dorothy Fay Gould received a master’s degree in English from the University of Washington in 1937. Her chief interest, however, was Northwest history, and she wrote and lectured extensively on the subject throughout her life. Her first publication was The Indian Attack on Seattle, a work of historical editing. Beyond the Shining Mountains, a history of the Northwest, was published in 1938. She also wrote numerous articles for local and other publications. In addition to her lectures on Northwest history that she augmented with lantern slides, Mrs. Gould recorded a series of kinescopes in 1957 on Northwest history for elementary school children. She also gave a number of talks on various television and radio programs.

Like her husband, Dorothy Fay Gould was active in numerous civic and social organizations. Besides history, art, and architecture, her prime interests included gardening. She was a long-time active member of the Seattle Garden Club and the Garden Club of America, and served on numerous committees for both. She also frequently wrote and gave talks on gardening topics. She was a founding member of the Seattle Historical Society and served as historian for the Washington State branch of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. In addition to these and other clubs and organizations, she belonged to the Sunset and University Women’s clubs, and was active in Seattle’s society circles.

Dorothy Fay Gould was the daughter of John Purinton Fay (1861-1930) and Alice Ober Fay (1863-1948), both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. John Fay was born in Westboro to an old Massachusetts family of comfortable means. He was educated at Exeter and Harvard, graduating in 1881, and after several years of studying at Harvard Law School, he moved west to take a position as principal of a Eureka, Nevada, high school. He continued to study law in Nevada, receiving his license to practice in 1888.

Alice Isabel Ober was born in the Massachusetts coastal town of Beverly to a prominent New England family, the sixth of eight children. She attended Wheaton Seminary and after briefly teaching high school in her home town she went west, taking a teaching position at the school in Eureka where John Fay was principal. They were married in 1889 and moved to Seattle just before the 1889 fire. There John Fay established a successful law practice and specialized in mining law. Fay became involved in politics in the 1890s and in 1912 ran unsuccessfully as the Republican-Progressive nominee for congressman-at-large. In 1897 he was appointed to the board of regents at the University of Washington and helped to improve and expand the University’s curriculum. Alice was a founding member of the Sunset Club and the Seattle Garden Club.

John and Alice Fay had six children, but two sons, John Bradford (1896-1904) and Winthrop Herrick (1899-1915) died young. Their surviving son, Temple Sedgewick (1895-1963), became a famous neurosurgeon. Besides Dorothy, there were two daughters: Alice (1891-1950), who joined the Women’s Overseas Section of the Y.M.C.A. National War Work Council during World War I, and Jean Bradford (1904-1986), who became a journalist.

Faybrooke, the Fays' 46-acre estate on Bainbridge Island, later became part of Fay Bainbridge State Park.

In addition to the Fays, four of Alice’s siblings settled in Seattle. Ralph Ober (1871-1931) was an engineer and became Seattle’s superintendent of buildings. Caroline Ober (1866-1929) founded the languages department at the University of Washington and was made professor emeritus shortly before her death. Sarah “Sadie” Ober (1854-1938) did missionary work among northest Native Americans in addition to being a writer and artist. She often used the name of her maternal grandmother, Huldah Herrick, as a pen name.

Other Ober siblings were Charles (1856-1948) and Frank (born in 1860), both of whom were actively involved in the Young Men’s Christian Association movement. Charles also authored several books. Arthur (1852-1913) became a farmer, and Frederick (1849-1913) traveled and published 22 books on his studies of nature and various cultures.

From the guide to the Gould Family Papers, 1830-1975, (University of Washington Libraries Special Collections)