| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Modern, Modern - International Style |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1949 |
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| Significance |
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This duplex was erected in 1949 It was designed by Stuart & Durham (B. Dudley Stuart and Robert L. Durham) for the firm of Hebb & Narodick Construction Company, Inc. (R. P. Hebb, President, and D. M. Narodick, Secretary – Treasurer), a general contracting firm located at 214 Aloha that owned as well as built the structure. A two-car garage, also designed by Stuart & Durham, was built about the same time. Ross P. Hebb submitted the permit applications.
The project appears to have resulted in the destruction of a simple house built at the southwest corner of the property in 1892. The new structure appears to be identical to the structure next door at 3705/3707 Woodlawn.
This structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of post war Modern
residential architecture. The partnership of Stuart & Durham acquired extensive experience with war housing after being organized in 1942 near the beginning of American involvement in the Second World War; this particular post-war structure and its twin next-door share the simplicity and straightforward character of the wartime work. Durham was a partner in the successor firm of Durham, Anderson & Freed (1954-80) and was later elected an AIA Fellow and served as nation president of the AIA (1967-68) and winner of the Seattle medal (1985).
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| Appearance |
| This is a two story, frame duplex with masonry veneer and combed shingle siding on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The nearly flat roof, the industrial character of the metal sash windows, the sparse decorative detailing at the window and door openings, the simple wall surfaces (unadorned except for the natural color and textural variation in the masonry and a raised element in the front facade), and the apparent simplicity of the design identify this as a Modern structure.
That the structure is a duplex is fairly apparent from the symmetrical composition of the front (east) elevation. The entry doors are located a short distance either side of the centerline of the structure. They are both served by a small concrete entry porch one step up form the front walk and are separated from one another by a trapezoidal wood frame wall that is fairly narrow at its base but projects farther from the face of the structure with increasing height. This central trapezoidal wall appears to be the only supporting element for the flat porch roof, which is widest at the point where it bears on the dividing wall. The porch roof fascia angles back towards the main structure, extending almost to the outside corners of the structure before returning to the face of the east elevation; however, the roof itself does not extend beyond the limits of the concrete porch slab and thus protects only the middle third of the elevation. The extension of the fascia functions somewhat as a trellis element as it extends over the main floor windows either side of the entries.
A single, large, steel framed window is centered in the section of wall either side the paired entry porches. Each of these windows is divided into twenty-five lights arranged in a 5 x 5 pattern. The central three columns of lights are fixed; however, the lower four lights in the two outside columns are framed together to form casements. Similarly sized lights are assembled into a 4 x 4 pattern at the two second floor windows. The two inside columns of lights are fixed; the two outside columns are again framed together to form casements. Although the two upper level windows serve different housing units, the projecting brick sills and heads of the two openings are extended across the middle of the façade to visually tie the two windows together.
At the south elevation, the east to west slope of the nearly flat roof is sufficiently apparent to accentuate the importance of the front (east) façade. A single steel window at the upper level, two lights wide and four lights tall, is located just east of the centerline of the elevation. Two similarly configured windows, more or less equally spaced to the west of the elevation’s centerline, light the first floor. A basement window four lights wide and two lights tall is situated near the middle of the elevation. The north wall is identical to the south, although one of the steel windows at the north elevation appears to have been replaced.
The west (back) elevation of the structure is clad with combed shingles. Like the front elevation, the east wall of the structure is symmetrical. At the second floor, metal windows three lights tall and four lights wide (3 x 4) are situated near the outside corners of the building. Replacement windows have been installed in the two inside openings that most likely originally featured steel windows with a 3 x 2 pattern of lights. Windows of this latter configuration are located at the inside openings at the first floor level. The outside openings at that level are doorways, each protected by a wood framed lean-to roof and served by a wood porch deck accessed by wood steps that wrap around the nearest outside corner of the structure. A second doorway beneath each of the porch decks provides access to the basement associated with each of the two housing units. Inboard of these two basement doors are two large steel basement windows divided in a 3 x 4 pattern.
A single story detached garage, with two separate garage doors accessed from Carr Avenue N. are situated near the west end of the property. This accessory structure is clad with combed shingles and has no readily apparent fenestration.
Except for the replacement windows discussed above, no significant modifications are apparent. The building immediately to the north, at 3705/3707 Woodlawn, is nearly identical, although the side elevations have been modified slightly to take advantage of opportunities offered by the siting of the structure. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Shingle - Combed, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Eaves |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Multiple Family |
Plan: |
Square |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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