Counsil House

Location: 231 Central St NE
Wohleb

Counsil House, 1970, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives

Counsil House today (2015), photo by Deb Ross

This unassuming home was built between 1927 and 1929 with a design by Olympia’s preeminent architect, Joseph Wohleb. Once again Wohleb demonstrates his breadth of abilities by taking a standard bungalow design and adding unusual features such as the stucco facade and oversized eaves and porch columns. Albert Counsil was a buttermaker at the Olympia Creamery, at a time when creameries were a relatively new phenomenon (for much of our city’s history, each residence kept its own cow to supply its dairy needs). The creamery was located at the corner of State Avenue and Water Street.

Additional resources:

Olympia Heritage Inventory (note: 1929 date in inventory may be in error as Counsils are listed here in 1927)

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