Browne's Addition

Browne's Addition is where Spokane's first fortunes got spent. Mining money poured into the city in the 1890s, and the families who made it built big houses on a flat bench just west of downtown, above the river.

A lot of those houses are still standing. A walk down 1st and 2nd Avenues takes you past Tudor, Colonial Revival and Renaissance Revival mansions, then into Coeur d'Alene Park, which is the oldest park in the city.

It is a neighborhood where people actually live, so treat it like one. Walk on the sidewalks, take photos from the street and leave the porches alone. Give it 60 to 90 minutes, plus time at the museum if you want it.

What to see and do

Local tips

• Start at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, where parking is free in the garage, then walk the neighborhood on foot.
• Stick to 1st and 2nd Avenues for the best concentration of mansions.
• Most houses are private. Photograph from the sidewalk and respect residents.
• Go in late afternoon in summer for softer light on the brick and stone.
• Combine it with a Campbell House tour, included with museum admission.
• Wear comfortable shoes. The neighborhood is flat, but the walk adds up.
• Look for the Cutter-designed houses. Cutter and Malmgren's work is the thread that ties the area together.

A little history

After the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Spokane Falls in 1881, landowners Browne and Cannon platted the area by 1883 and started selling lots. They set aside almost 10 acres for a park, and in 1891 Coeur d'Alene Park became Spokane's first park.

After the 1889 fire downtown, wealthy mining and business families built here, hiring leading architects. Between 1897 and 1900 the architects Kirtland Cutter and Karl Malmgren designed houses for John A. Finch, Patrick Clark, Amasa Campbell and others, in styles from English Tudor to the very eclectic Clark Mansion.