| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman, Colonial - Colonial Revival |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1924 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected 1924. It was designed and built by merchant builder and property owner Stephen Berg, who operated from an office at 3402 Woodland Park Avenue N. The house was estimated to cost $3,750 when the permit was acquired.
The permit suggests that the design of the house included a basement garage; however, this feature does not appear to have been built. By 1937, there appears to have been a detached garage structure at the southeast corner of the lot. The garage currently at that location is approached by a drive running along the south side of the.
The property appears to have come into the possession of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1935. John P. Shallow resided at the house in 1938. Later owners included F. L. Stewart who appears to have acquired the property in 1944, Emily Wilcox who bought the house the following year, Phillips S. Paul who acquired the property in 1964, and C. E. Frombach. The current owners have had the property since at least the early 1990s.
This structure is significant as a fairly intact and well-maintained late craftsman bungalow exemplifying effect on bungalow design of the eclecticism that characterized the middle years of Seattle’s second north end building boom. It is also significant as an example of the work of Stephen Berg, a merchant builder who was quite active in Wallingford after the First World War.
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| Appearance |
| This is a one story, wood clapboard clad, frame residence on a concrete foundation over a 3/4 basement. The moderate slope of the side gabled roof, the barge boards supported by triangular knee braces, the unenclosed undersides of the roof overhangs, the exposed rafter tails (now hidden by added gutters), and the organization and detailing of the windows are all typical of craftsman bungalow design. The structure is much deeper than it is wide. As a result, the back (east) end of the house is roofed by a cross gable and the ridge of the roof forms a “T” when viewed from above.
The entry porch projects toward the street from the north end of the west elevation. Its gabled roof is detailed in typical bungalow manner; however, its outside corners are supported by two columns running from the base of the lintel at the lower edge of the gable to the porch deck; the columns do not bear on pedestals as is typically the case at bungalow porches. In addition the columns exhibit a noticeable entasis despite their square cross-section. Both of these features are more typical of colonial revival design. The original concrete entry stair and sidewalls are still extant.
A slightly battered chimney is prominently placed at the front (west) elevation of the house near the center of the wall south of the entry porch. It is built of stucco-clad masonry. Diamond shaped decorative elements, consisting of small brick groups, have been allowed to penetrate the stucco facing. Because of its placement, the chimney has become an unusually strong and important element of the design.
The chimney is flanked by two identical windows. Each has a transom unit with leaded glass in a geometrical design featuring a repeated mushroom-like pattern. It is not clear whether or not the large single sash unit below each transom unit is operable.
The side gable extends over the westernmost 60% of the north and south elevations. At the south façade, a gable-roofed bay extends into the side yard from the eastern half of the gabled section. The east-facing slope of the bay roof is coplanar with the east-facing slope of the man side gable. An assembly of four windows, consisting of a long transom unit (with leaded glass in a pattern similar to but larger than that at the transom windows at the front of the house), over a central square unit flanked by two narrower rectangular units of equal height, in centered in the south face of the bay. An identical assembly is centered in the wall just west of the bay. Under the eave of the roof to the east of the bay is a small double-hung window. Its upper sash is divided into eight lights in a 2 x 4 pattern. The lower sash is of equal size but undivided. At the southwest corner of the house are three relatively large basement windows that appear to have been added fairly recently. Two older basement windows are situated near the base of the structure, one at the center of the wall, and the other near the east end.
Four windows are spread across the north elevation. Their heads are aligned but their configurations vary. Fixed windows are located high in the wall at the west and east ends of the wall. The window nearest the front is divided into ten lights in a 2 x 5 pattern; that nearest the east is similar but has only eight lights. Just east of the centerline of the north-facing gable in a large double-hung unit. Its upper sash is divided into eight lights (in a 2 x 4 pattern) over an undivided and larger lower sash. Near the east end of the gabled portion of the façade is another double-hung unit. It features an upper sash divided into six lights over a lower undivided sash of about the same size. A small vent, possibly added, is centered high in the gable. Two windows light the basement from the east end of the elevation.
The east (rear) elevation of he house is not visible from the street.
As noted above, several basement windows have been added. The front yard rockery is a late addition to the site. The window boxes that were once located under the west elevation windows appear to have been removed. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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