Mr. and Mrs. B are a husband and wife team who own and operate Mr. B's Meadery. We currently have a tasting room in Fremont, Seattle, WA and our production is located in SoDo, Seattle, WA. We're in the process of remodeling the Tool Center building in White Center in order to relocate our production unit and open a second tasting room.

Building Origins

The original structures were built by Hiram Green in 1926 with several additions over the years. It began as a 20’x21’ gas station with a large awning and 2 10’x10’ brick structures with an awing connecting them. Just a little history nerd tangent for ya - Hiram Green is one of the founders of White Center. In fact, the only reason it’s called White Center and not Green Center is due to the fact that Hiram lost a coin toss with co-founder, George White.

Hiram Green’s contributions to this community were huge. Hiram built what is known today as the Southgate Roller Rink as the “White Center Boxing Arena” as he was a known fan of the sport. His daughter and her husband reopened it as the “Southgate Skate Center” in 1937. Hiram, along with other White Center founders, also helped fund the first municipally owned streetcar line in the Seattle area called the “Highland Park and Lake Burien Streetcar Line” which ran from present day SoDo to Burien. Hiram also built the first White Center Theater, drugstore, and bakery along with several homes for his 8 children. The Rozella Building, our neighbor, was built by Hiram at the same time as our building. It’s one of the earliest and most intact commercial buildings in the White Center neighborhood and hosts a Barber Shop currently.

We’re so humbled to be the caretakers for this historic building! Hiram Green originally settled in Fremont, investing in North Seattle and the Green River Valley, prior to buying 5 acres of land in what would become White Center’s commercial district. We can’t help but feel an alignment with the original owner of this building as we grow our business and invest in this community. Needless to say, we’ve got some pretty large shoes to fill!

Interested in learning more about the area? HistoryLink.Org has a great article about White Center!

Some History About the Building and Our Plans

The larger main building operated previously a gas station from 1926-1944 then upholstery repair shop from 1944-1966 until it was purchased by the previous owners in 1975. It has operated as Center Tool Rental since, serving the community for over 50 years.

Our plans for this building: The front section will be a well-lit café style with live plants and enchanted forest vibes. The back room will sport a darker art deco style gaming room with a book shelf wall that we plan on filling with books, records, and tabletop games. The majority of this building will be host to our production unit.

The smaller structure has hosted a number of businesses throughout the years. It’s been a car battery and tire shop and an auto repair shop. The front hosts a 10’x10’ office space which has been a lawyer’s office, a barber shop, and a rubber stamp shop. This building also hosts the bathroom. We plan to call the building "The Tool Crib" as an homage to the previous owners and their impact on the community.

Our plans for this building: The main room will have an industrial, post-apocalyptic vibe and will host most of the old signage from the history of the buildings. It also has the bathroom which Mrs. B will be making themed similar to our Fremont Tasting Room’s. (Not going to let you in on what the theme will be though... just come and see once we're open!) It will also host Mrs. B’s workshop so you can get insight into what she’s working on and maybe take a class or two with her. If you didn’t know, Mrs. B built the bar and table and painted the murals in our Fremont tasting room. All of the design and woodworking done in our new location is being done by her.

Moving Forward…

Investing in this building is a life changing event for us. If you've been to our Fremont tasting room, you know that it's a very small space which limits the amount of patrons we can serve. With this new building, we're hoping to give better access for our patrons from South Seattle and to become a part of a growing and diverse neighborhood. Mr. B actually grew up in this community and we could not be more excited to become a part of it! White Center is truly a unique part of Seattle that we love and live in. We plan on making this building a safe-space inclusive community center and plan on hosting as many community events as we’re able to. Mrs. B will be also building a mini-art gallery which will feature rotating local artists’ work.