Minus the blue, the Paulsen Penthouse is up for grabs

For more than a year, one of Spokane’s most unique office spaces has been vacant.

The view is so good and the location so compelling that most who have called to rent the place don’t want to work there. They want to live there.

“Probably 90 percent of the calls we get are people who want to rent it as a residence,” said Scarlett Stalter, assistant property manager of the Paulsen Center.

The space is the penthouse of the Paulsen Center, home to the Paulsen family for nearly 80 years.

The Paulsen Center is advertising the space as “the most exclusive address in downtown Spokane.”

The penthouse, which is the 16th floor of the Paulsen Medical and Dental Building, has a 500-square-foot rooftop terrace that provides sweeping downtown views. Until the mid-1990s, the patio was home to a juniper tree that became known as Spokane’s tallest tree.

The building was opened in 1929 by the estate of mining magnate August Paulsen. His widow, Myrtle Paulsen, was the first resident of the penthouse.

“Mrs. Paulsen will have the most elevated living quarters in Spokane,” The Spokesman-Review reported in April 1929.

“Mrs. Paulsen’s apartment is said to be one of the finest roof homes west of Chicago,” the newspaper wrote in 1930. “For truly it is a beautiful spot … all riding high as if on a magic carpet or hanging in a huge crystal ball.”

Myrtle Paulsen’s son and daughter-in-law, Clarence and Helen Paulsen, moved there in 1957 after Myrtle’s death. The building sold in 1966, but the deal contained a clause that the couple could remain until their deaths. Clarence died in 1981 and Helen in 2007.

Stalter said after Helen Paulsen died, the penthouse could no longer remain a residence because of newer building codes requiring sprinkler systems. The Paulsen Center has opted not to make significant changes.

Some Italian tile in rough shape was covered with carpeting. The floor plan has been altered near the elevator. The light blue paint that colored most of the surfaces and was favored by Clarence Paulsen has been covered over with more neutral tans and whites. (The light blue remains in a few places, including the interior of the kitchen cabinets.)

The 2,300-square-foot suite still has a sun room overlooking the eastern part of downtown. It includes a living room with wood floors and fireplace, three bathrooms, two bedrooms, a dining room and a kitchen (though it is currently without appliances).

Cip Paulsen, Helen and Clarence’s grandson, said the apartment was a great apartment for his grandmother, who enjoyed walking downtown and frequented the downtown skywalks. And it was secure, with 4-inch-thick, bulletproof doors and bulletproof, one-way mirrored windows serving as entrances from the elevator and the stairs.

“The view was stunning,” Paulsen said.

The penthouse was most recently leased by Estate Strategies, which moved to the ninth floor. The company had to vacate the spot last year as part of the Paulsen Center’s replacement of the elevators, Stalter said. The systems for the elevators are above the penthouse.

The Paulsen Center, which is owned by Diamond Parking, is asking $4,500 a month for the penthouse suite. The center is in discussions with a prospective tenant, but papers have not been signed, Stalter said.

“I brought my kids up here to watch the fireworks,” Stalter said. “It was amazing.”