Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 3303 S PLUM ST S / Parcel ID 6738700255 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name: Style: Arts & Crafts Neighborhood: Mount Baker Built By: Year Built: 1913   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. Built ca 1913 at a cost of $3500, this building was owned by N. Haines. Alfred R. and Kathy O. Giles moved into the building before 1919. Mr. Giles owned Giles Drug Company with Frank P. Giles. Alfred Giles was also a teacher in dramatic art. By 1930, Frank P. Giles also lived in the building. Alfred Giles resided in the building through 1938. By 1958 through 1968, Harold P. Giles lived in the building. The Mount Baker neighborhood comprises two north-south tending ridges located southeast of downtown Seattle along Lake Washington. Initial development of the area occurred relatively late, post-1900, following the construction of the Rainier Avenue Electric Street Railway in the 1890s. York Station on Rainier Avenue and the Dose Addition were developed earlier than the Mount Baker Park Addition, platted in 1907 by the Hunter Tract Improvement Company. The Mount Baker Park Addition represents the core of the neighborhood and is its primary character-defining feature. Mount Baker Park is one of Seattle’s earliest planned residential communities that successfully integrated the natural environment and a relatively exclusive residential neighborhood in its layout of lots, streets, boulevards, and parks. The houses, primarily built between 1905 and 1929, reflect a variety of eclectic and Northwest-based architectural styles, and include designs by many prominent local architects. Other important influences were the streetcar connection with downtown Seattle, the integration of local parks and boulevards into the Olmsted system, the construction of Franklin High School in 1912, and the building of the Mount Baker tunnel and Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge to Mercer Island in 1940. Today this middle-to-upper income neighborhood remains predominantly residential, is home to an ethnically diverse population, and retains much of its planned character.   Appearance Built in 1912-1913, this substantial, Arts & Crafts style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular corner lot. The building is oriented to South Plum Street on a flat site 2’ above street level. This 960 square foot, two-and-a-half story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 24’ by 40’, with a 4’ by 14’ front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. The shingle siding was added post-1937 over coursed first story shingles and half-timber with stucco panel upper stories. Asphalt composition roofing covers the cross gable roof. Overhanging open eaves and gables with broad bargeboards and decorative exposed false purlins and rafters define the roofline. Wood sash multiple lite over single lite double hung windows provide day lighting. A flight of stairs along the building leads to the front porch. Paired posts carry the gable porch roof with exposed framing. A brick chimney services the building. The vertical presence of this Arts & Crafts residence, combined with the varied roofline and triple front facing gable ends accented by broad bargeboards, sets this building apart as unique within the neighborhood.

Detail for 3303 S PLUM ST S / Parcel ID 6738700255 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Shingle Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Hip Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two & ½ Unit Theme(s): Integrity Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Intact Major Bibliographic References City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives. Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996. City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures. Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources." Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.) Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."

Photo collection for 3303 S PLUM ST S / Parcel ID 6738700255 / Inv #

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