Chandler House

Location: 2053 East Bay Drive NE
Local register

Chandler House 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives

Chandler House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross

The Chandler House is situated on the east shore of Budd Inlet, just south of Squaxin Park. It was built around 1920 by Elbert Chandler, an engineer who was responsible for many of the irrigation projects that transformed Eastern Washington into an important agricultural center in the 1920s and 1930s. The home is in the Dutch Colonial style popular in that era, and is well maintained. The home is on the local register.

Olympia Heritage inventory

Grand Parade of Progress – Best Photography Studio – 7/13/25
Looking Back’s theme for 2025 features Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. The Best Camera Shop sold cameras and film in the early to mid-20th century. In 1950, they expanded to a photographic studio staffed by photographers John Macaluso, Jay Jaycox, and Bruce Burkhart. The studio was launched just in time to capture…
July 13, 2025
James Offut by L. Wilson Clark – 7/6/25
Looking Back’s theme for 2025 features Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. L. Wilson Clark was a very early photographer in Olympia. His studio was on Main Street (now Capitol Way); he photographed subjects in Thurston and Pierce counties. Pictured here is settler James Offut also spelled Offutt) with a bundle of hops…
July 6, 2025
James Alden painting of early Olympia
Looking Back’s theme for 2025 features Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. James Madison Alden was an artist, topographer and junior officer aboard the U.S.S. Active for the U.S. Coast Survey. This watercolor is the earliest known image of Olympia, painted in 1857, looking north down what is now Capitol Way. The large building at…
June 29, 2025