L'Amourita History L’amourita is a hybrid French-Spanish word that means “Lovers” and the architectural style of the building has been described as “Mediterranean-Craftsman.” It is a turn of the century Seattle landmark that was completed in 1909 by an Investment Speculator named, Adolph J. Jarmuth. According to the Seattle Times, Mr. Jarmuth “built the L’amourita whole-piece and lived with his family in its first apartment at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Shelby Street for the first two years only. In the beginning there were only eight apartments, described in the Seattle Times then as ‘divided by concrete walls and having from seven to nine rooms.’ The building, said The Times, was ‘the first of its kind in Seattle.’”