Frederick Stanley Piper, Architect [1883-1950]
F. Stanley Piper [†] was born in England in 1883, where he was educated as an architect and practiced with the Plymouth firm of King and Lister, A.R.I.B.A. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1907, and by 1909, had his own office in Bellingham. In that year, he designed the Columbia School and began a career in the Bellingham area that spanned three decades. Piper designed primarily commercial and public buildings, though he also created some notable homes. His works include the Bellingham Herald Building, the Bellingham Fine Arts Building, the Great Northern Train Station, the Eldridge Mansion and Homesite, and the Anacortes Public Library (the latter three properties are listed in the National Register).
Like many of his contemporaries, Piper was comfortable designing work in almost every popular style: Romanesque, Classic Revival, Commercial, Tudor, Mission/Morrish, and Chateauesque. A competent and popular architect, Piper provided Northwest Washington state with architectural designs of great diversity and sophistication. His career is unparalleled in Bellingham.
John Graham was appointed as an associate architect on Bellingham National Bank project. Graham was one of Seattle's most successful and prolific architects; however, his contributions to the design of the bank appear to be minimal. Piper signed all of the drawings and the building incorporates design elements often found in his other projects.
† Michael Sullivan, Preservation Consultant, Chronicles and Design and Mark L. Brack, O.A.H.P., Bellingham National Bank Building, Whatcom County, Washington, nomination document, 1983, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.