ABSTRACT
Composed of the westerly portions of Washington and Oregon as well as the northwestern quadrant of California, it is confined to a narrow band between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade ranges. Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the more substantial commercial and apartment buildings located in cities used stone and brick bearing walls as their main structure. Due to the surrounding abundant forests, wood has always been the material of choice for construction in the region. Even though the area has a great deal of stone that underlies it and can be seen in outcroppings along the coast and on mountainsides, it has never become a major building material. In some respects, the Pacific Northwest is the easiest region for which to design, as its cool temperate climate with a narrow temperature range requires less concern for heating and almost none for cooling.
