The home for brewery executive Frederick Handschy was built across the rear of two city lots and adapts Prairie School philosophy to Northwest topography with Northwest building materials. The main entrance is off W Wheeler Street "to preserve the front yard as an unbroken compliment to the long horizontal profile of the house ... . The result adds a welcome variety and relief to the tightly packed city blocks intersecting at the corner of 9th Avenue W and W Wheeler Streets" (Anglin).
Willatzen and Byrne introduced to Seattle Wright's uniquely American form of architecture. These designs are the only body of work in the Northwest from any of Wright's Oak Park apprentices.
The house was acquired by Greenwood Gallery founder Andrew Kistler in 1974. It was declared a Seattle Landmark on February 22, 1983, because it represented a specific architectural style.
