Patrick 'Patsy' Clark Mansion Revised

Patrick “Patsy” Clark was an Irish immigrant who came to the United States in 1850.  Clark quickly left New York for the promise of mining opportunities in California.  Clark was wildly successful in his mining overseeing operations and worked in mines from California to Montana and seemingly everywhere in between before working at the Poorman and War Eagle mines in Idaho.  Patsy Clark became a well respected mine overseer and was even called upon for his expert opinion when mines were being sold that he was familiar with.  In 1889 Patsy proved his business sense by selling the War Eagle mine to a group of investors for nearly 3 quarters of a million dollars in cash.  When the new investors inspected their new mine, they found the ore was almost entirely exhausted and would have to begin searching for new reserves within the mine.

Patsy spent much of his life going from mine to mine, however finally settled down in Spokane in 1889 when he commissioned renowned architect Kirtland Cutter to build him a home.  Patsy told Cutter to spare no expense in the construction of his home.  Cutter finished the home in 1898, 9 years after Patsy Clark commissioned the home.  The Clark Mansion stands as one of the most extravagant homes in the entire Northwest.

Kirtland Cutter spent years trying to create his vision.  Inside of the extravagant mansion each major room, such as the Foyer, Drawing Room and Dining Room, had a different architectural style.  In total the mansion has 27 rooms excluding the attic and basement.  Furnishings inside of the mansion were custom built by artisans to Cutter’s specifications.  The effect of the mixture of this one of a kind architecture and furnishings produced one of the most stunning homes in what became known as the age of Extravagance in Spokane.

The Patrick Clark Mansion has been used as a variety of things since Patrick and his wife Mary Clark died in 1916 and 1926 respectively.  For roughly the first 50 years after the Clarks passed on the Mansion was used as a residence for various owners.  The Mansion was then converted into the Francis Lester Inn, then into Patsy Clarks’ Resteraunt.  Today the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Patrick Clark Mansion is used by NAME Architects, while the ground floor can be rented out for special events such as weddings.