Seattle Culture
Historic Cornish College Building For Sale
Kerry Hall was the original home of college founder Nellie Cornish
By Rob Smith April 9, 2024
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.
The former home of a Seattle visionary is for sale.
The historic Kerry Hall building, at 710 E. Roy St. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, was built in 1921 and was the home of Nellie Cornish, who founded the arts college in 1914 and ran it for 25 years. The college was formed in the building and has occupied it since then.
The planned sale will complete Cornish’s longtime plan to unify its campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Most Cornish classes are now held in its Main Campus Center and other buildings in the Denny Way and Boren Avenue areas.
“The sale of Kerry Hall will bring dance and music classes to our main campus, allowing students to better utilize the cross-disciplinary opportunities that make a Cornish education unique,” says Cornish College of the Arts President Raymond Tymas-Jones. “It also immerses developing artists in the heart of Seattle’s technology scene, where creativity meets innovation.”
Cornish will reinvest proceeds from the sale, which is being managed by CBRE, into existing facilities and operations. Enrollment is expected to exceed 530 students in the 2024-2025 school year, higher than it was prior to the pandemic.
Kerry Hall, a 31,900-square-foot building, includes classrooms, studios, rehearsal space, and a large performance venue. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Follow Us
Reading the Economic Fault Lines
Washington’s recession anxiety leads the nation
Washington residents are Googling recession-related terms more than anyone else in the country. A new study from Techr, an online HR platform, ranked states based on Google searches like “Trump recession 2025,” “are we in a recession 2025,” and “layoffs 2025.” Washington tops the list with 56.33 searches per 100,000 residents — more than 200%…
A Quiet Force: Tasha the Sloth Bear Remembered
The Woodland Park Zoo loses a beloved matriarch
Woodland Park Zoo has said goodbye to a very important grandma. Tasha, a 20-year-old sloth bear known for her beautiful coat, hazel eyes, and love of cinnamon, was humanely euthanized after being diagnosed with advanced cancer. She had recently shown signs of rapidly declining health, including lethargy and loss of appetite, prompting an urgent exam….
Funko’s WNBA Deal Showcases Top Stars
Collectibles company creates Pop! figures of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, others
I love the Seattle Storm, and all things WNBA. My passion for women’s basketball even predates Caitlin Clark. My wife and I recently bought a partial season-ticket package, and my basketball-obsessed son closely analyzes games to help him improve. Now comes news that Everett pop culture collectibles company Funko has signed a deal with the…
206 Forever
Seattle’s longtime area code is getting a new number
If you’ve got a 206 number, go ahead and brag a little. It’s about to get exclusive. Starting June 10, the 564 area code will begin overlaying 206 in Seattle. Blame the cell phones, tablets, watches. Everything wants a number now. Area codes often run out eventually, but this speeds things up. And since we…