One of the most prominent builders/developers in the Pacific Northwest during the post WWII era was George Bell. His legacy, with partner Ted Valdez, can be found in thousands of homes within the gently curving roads and cul-de-sacs of numerous communities outside of Seattle.

Bell’s legacy was the development of ranch, split-level, and split-entry homes that were initially marketed to newly married young couples, and returning G.I.’s. Over three decades, beginning in the late 1940s, Bell (first individually and then with partners) reportedly built over 15,000 houses; mostly single-family homes on the Eastside and in South King County. Over the course of his career he also became one of the best-known and most respected leaders in the building and development industry in the nation. He was a visionary and was particularly successful and respected by his peers due in large part to partnerships with many of his subcontractors, which gave them the opportunity to benefit from his success as well.

George Everett Bell was born March 26, 1917, in Boise, Idaho, and moved to Seattle as a young child. He graduated from West Seattle High School in 1935 and eventually took a job at Boeing, working as a mechanic/riveter at Plant No. 3. During World War II, Bell served as a civilian contractor with the Navy Seabees in Honolulu. While in Hawaii he got married, and he and wife, Florence, had twins, Michael and Patricia.

Returning home after the war, Bell quickly discovered that there was a severe housing shortage in the Seattle area. With little knowledge of the building industry, he built his first house for his mother in 1947. His son Michael later recalled, “My dad and my mother set out to build a house,” even though they knew nothing about it. A carpenter building a house nearby told Bell he could do it himself and that he could learn, “Just come and watch me.” It was a lesson that Bell would never forget.

After building the house he bought a lot next door and built another one, selling it quickly. His career as a developer had started. In 1951 Bell formed a partnership Ted Valdez (later his son-in-law). By 1954 they had built over 1,000 homes in the Bellevue area, ranging in price from $8,900 to $32,000. Within a year, they had become the top selling name in northwest home construction.

Initially, their business model was to market to low cost homes targeted specifically to help G.I.’s purchase their first house. The average prices ranged from $12,000 to $16,000. Their ads promised “as little as $200 down” or “nothing down if you paint the interior walls.” Monthly payments could be as low as $75.29.

Bell & Valdez tried hard to not have cookie-cutter designs, offering more than 15 different floor plans. They specialized in ranch and split-level homes, giving suburban families a downstairs “rec” room for the children. They never sold the same house in both wood and brick, so buyers could not make a house-by-house comparison. Many of their designs were developed by their in-house staff architects which included John Anderson, Larry S. Higgins, Robert Campbell, and engineer Robert Hobble.

Innovation in sales was important. Often their homes had unfinished space so a house could grow with the buyer. Marketed as their “Stop & Grow – Finish-it-Yourself,” the program sparked a 40% boost in sales. Promotion was also high priority to the team. They were heavily involved in the annual Parade of Homes shows during the late 1950s and 1960s. As their success grew, reportedly, weekend sales at some of their developments were so high that they had to hire traffic police to direct automobiles through their subdivisions.

Further fueling their business was a series of high-profile awards at the national level. Among them was top honors for a nationwide home competition sponsored by the American Home magazine (October 1959). Named “Best House for the Money,” the home was chosen by a panel of judges from hundreds of houses submitted from seventeen states. Previously they had received honors from the National Association of Homes Builders in 1957 for their $16,000 home called “The Olympian,” which was featured in American Builder magazine. In 1960 alone they received three national citations for various homes (The Sherwood, The Alpine, and The Monterey). Other awards followed including the 1961 National Merit award for homes under $16,000 by Parents magazine; the 1966 grand prize and award of distinction for two homes (the “The Waikiki” and “The Casa d’Or”) in the Tam O’ Shanter development from American Builder magazine. They also won an award for merchandising at Practical Builder’s 10^th Annual Merchandizing Contest in Chicago (1960).

Bell & Valdez residential developments included Mountain Vue Estates (1952, Bellevue); Eastgate (1954); Lake Hills (1955, with co-developer Leonard Homes); Ivanhoe Park (1960); Lakota Woods (1962, Federal Way); Lochmoor (1962, Bellevue); Lake Geneva Park (Ivanhoe Park (1960, Bellevue); Puyallup (1962); Strattonwood Central (1962, Renton); Strattonwood South and North (1963, 1968, Redmond); Lake Geneva Estates (1964, Federal Way); and Pepperidge (1969, Renton).

By the mid-1960s, Bell saw a change in housing trends, so he and his partners concentrated on developments around golf courses. Together they developed a variety of such neighborhoods including Tam O’Shanter (1965), Brae Burn (1966), Fairwood (1967), and Twin Lakes (1967).

Over the course of his career Bell became heavily involved in various aspects of the building industry. Some estimates note that he had interests in 42 different companies. Among the more notable partnership was his involvement in the Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue in 1962. This led to a deeper partnership with developer Dick Willard and together they founded the Quadrant Corporation. By 1969, when it was sold to Weyerhaeuser, Quadrant under Bell and Willard was doing $28.6 million dollars in sales.

In 1965 Bell & Valdez sold the construction business to Tiffany Homes Inc. for $4 million. They continued to operate under the Bell & Valdez name for several more years. Bell himself went into land development and the land development side of his business became a subsidiary of Transamerica Corporation, California’s mighty supermarket of finance. Valdez, who retained an ownership stake in the firm, had moved to Hawaii in 1959 and started another building firm.

Bell had retired by the 1980s. After suffering a stroke, he passed away in Renton on July 17, 2000 at age 89.

– Michael C Houser