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Ira E. Cummings

1915 - 1975

Born October 4, 1915 in Lewistown, Montana, Ira E. Cummings attended primary school on Bainbridge Island and Broadway High School in Seattle.  With no formal architectural training, Cummings began his architectural career at the age of 24.  His hands-on architectural training eventually took him to Wyoming before he returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1945.

Cummings then opened his own architectural practice in Winslow on Bainbridge Island.  While there he designed a number of private residences and spec houses.  During this time he received his architectural license (TLC No. 363, 1946). By 1953, he had moved his practice to Seattle in order to take greater advantage of the post war building boom. 

Cummings design talent was quickly recognized.  He holds the distinction of designing the first “Home of the Month” dwelling for the Seattle Times in January 1954.  The Blue Ridge Drive house designed for the builder N.J. Zorich, created a lasting bond Zorich and several other prominent builders including Richard Lee and W.F. Cook.   Over the next 15 years Cummings provided them with several unique designs for spec houses.

Ira Cummings Office SignDuring the 1950s and 60s, Cummings work focused primarily on single-family residential commissions.  Many of his designs were featured in local newspapers.  Among the more note worthy projects are the J.A. Colcock House (1952), Harlow Snyder House (1954), Frederick Criddle House (1955), Paul Tutmac Jr. House (1959), William Wheeler House (1960), and Twenty-Ten University Apartments (1963).

Cummings designs are scattered throughout the city, however many of his nearly 500 known projects can found in the neighborhoods of Magnolia, Queen Anne, Innis Arden and Blue Ridge.  Other projects are located on Bainbridge Island and Mercer Island.

In the late 1960s, Cummings took a job with the state designing and planning health facilities.  Utilizing this experience, he moved to Los Angeles, CA where he served as project director for the architectural firm of Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall, a large international architectural firm, which specialized in hospital and medical facilities.  While there his projects included designs as far away as Guam and Hawaii.  On December 20, 1975, Cummings passed away suddenly in London, while on a return trip to visit a project he was working on for a medical facility in Tehran, Iran.

By Michael Houser, State Architectural Historian - May 2007

Bibliography

Ira Cummings Project List - 1964

WA State Architectural License, Ira Cummings - January 3, 1946.

"45 Units in New Apartments" Seattle Times, May 27, 1962.

"50-Unit Apartment Going Up on Summit" Seattle Times, May 24, 1959

"Apartment Open House"-  Seattle Times, January 27, 1963.

Bellevue Realty Company Advertisement -  Seattle Times, September 11, 1960.

"Compactness Is Major Feature in Lake Forest Park Residence" Seattle Times, March 5, 1950.

"Contemporary Home on Magnolia" Seattle Times, August 19, 1962.

"Economical, Spacious Dwelling" Seattle Times, September 5, 1948.

"Expandability Featured in Lake ForestPark Residence" Seattle Times, April 6, 1952.

"Home Boasts Unusual Design" Seattle Times, November 15, 1959.

"Home of the Month: Fashionable Design for Living in Pacific Northwest" Seattle Times, January 3, 1954.

"Impressive Design Features Home in Inverness" Seattle Times, December 21, 1958.

"Pacific Northest Living: Family Room Next to Patio in Blue Ridge" Seattle Times, September 1, 1951.

"Pacific Northest Living: A View Superb From Vista Mountian" Seattle Times, March 18, 1956.

"Queen Anne Home's View Impresses" Seattle Times, May 31, 1953.

"Rosary for Ira Cummings Architect" Seattle Times, December 25, 1975.

"Roomy Lakeshore View Home" Seattle Times, August 2, 1959.

"Seattleite Guilty in Income Tax Case" Seattle Times, June 15, 1963.

"Spacious Blue Ridge Home with View" Seattle Times, November 27, 1955.

"Spacious View Residence on Magnolia" Seattle Times, December 12, 1954.

"Space, Comfort in Mercer Island Home" Seattle Times, March 11, 1956.

"Space Well Utilized in Dwelling" Seattle Times, May 2, 1948.

"Unusual Design in Blue Ridge Home" Seattle Times, September 1, 1957.

"View Home on Magnolia Bluff" Seattle Times, May 24, 1959.

"View Home in Mercerwood Shore Club" Seattle Times, March 3, 1957.

"View Residence in Somerset" Seattle Times, January 29, 1961.

"Wise Planning Assure Comfortable Home" Seattle Times, March 19, 1950.