| Historic Name: |
815 Harrison St |
Common Name: |
815 Harrison St |
| Style: |
American Foursquare, Other - Utilitarian, Vernacular |
Neighborhood: |
South Lake Union |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1908 |
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| Significance |
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This historic property is no longer extant. Based on field examination conducted in January - February 2014, it has been demolished. Specific demolition date has not been established.
King County Tax Assessor Records give this building a date of 1908. While the massing, wood siding and wood frame windows, particularly at the upper levels, are most likely from this period, other features were obviously added later. A 1936 photo shows that the original structure that wrapped around the front of the house was wood frame. It functioned and looked like a garage and the stair that led to the top of it faced Harrison Street. By 1953, the wood garage had been replaced by the present concrete structure along with an open stair, facing away from Harrison Street (probably the same as the present stair, although it has since been partially enclosed). The house has been altered over the years, although most of the changes appear to have been made by the early 1960s. The house is mainly interesting because it is one of the last single family residences from the early 1900s in the South Lake Union neighborhood. While some of changes may be reversible, the number of changes to its exterior makes its significance very questionable. It has lost many of its important original architectural elements and should not be considered contributing
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| Appearance |
| 817 Harrison St is located mid-block between 8th Avenue North and 9th Avenue North on the south side of Harrison Street. This is a three story structure with a simple hipped roof. In addition to the one story concrete structure, which wraps around the Harrison Street side of the building, other obvious changes have been made to windows and siding, particularly on the main Harrison Street façade. Three story houses of this kind appear to have been prevalent in this neighborhood, although from Harrison Street, the building looks like a two-story house lifted onto a platform. No drawings or photos make it clear, whether the house was in fact raised up above an original one story platform. In any case, the basic plan of the house is a rectangle, twenty four feet by forty feet, with the shorter dimension facing north on Harrison Street. Wrapped around the north end of the building is shallow concrete structure and platform, obviously of a later date, with a long dimension along Harrison Street measuring thirty eight feet. There is also a single run stair attached to the west side of the concrete platform, with the steps facing south, away from Harrison Street. Siding at the second floor of the north elevation, and for the bottom two floors of the south and east elevations, is a composite material siding, which replaced original wood siding in the early 1960s. The top floor elevations retain original clapboard siding. Windows have also been altered. On the north, Harrison St elevation, an entry with a small hipped roof and a trio of three double-hung windows in a wood frame have been replaced by two doors and a large multi-pane window. The third floor has retained the corresponding trio of double-hung windows in wood frame. The building tends to be intact at the third level of all of the visible elevations, north, west and south. Windows also tend to be more intact on the elevations facing west and south along alleys. Other additions have been made, mainly above the concrete platform. Metal fencing is used a railing around the platform and a trellis-like construction of deep boards with tails, cut in a curious angled shape, has been added. |
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| Status: |
No - Altered |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
INV |
| Cladding(s): |
Concrete, Shingle |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Irregular |
| Structural System: |
Mixed |
No. of Stories: |
three |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Slight |
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Changes to Windows: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Extensive |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
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