Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 4117 Whitman AVE / Parcel ID 1931300665 / Inv #

Historic Name: Dailey/Kerr House Common Name: Dailey/Kerr House Style: Queen Anne Neighborhood: Wallingford Built By: Year Built: 1900   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. The Dailey/Kerr House was constructed about 1900. Married just a year, Daniel (b. 1873) and Carrie (b. 1876) Dailey arrived in Seattle in 1897. Within two years of his arrival, Dailey started working for the post office delivering mail. In May 1900, the Daileys acquired two lots just one block away from the Green Lake Electric Railway that ran down Woodland Park Avenue towards Fremont and Seattle. Dailey likely started building the house soon after he acquired the property and completed the house near the end of 1900. By the following summer Dailey sold to J. W. Elder who in 1904 sold to Jeanie McK and George H. Covey, who two years later sold it to Fred J. and Lilly Kerr. Both J. W. Elder and George Covey, a part owner in the Covey Brothers tin, sheet iron and copper works, never lived in the house. Canadian born Fred Kerr (b. ca 1857) lived in Illinois and California, married Lilly Lee in 1887, and had a son and a daughter before moving to Seattle in 1905. While the Kerrs lived in the house from 1906 to 1910 Fred Kerr headed a real estate firm. In 1910 they sold the house and moved a few blocks away. Later occupants. A. J. Underhill purchased the house in 1936 and apparently rented it. In the late 1930s piano tuner Fred R. Fletcher had moved into the house and remained there through the early 1960s. By World War II Fred Fletcher married a woman named Alice. At about the same time, to help the war effort, Fletcher got hired as a guard for the Puget Sound Merchant Patrol, a job that lasted into the 1960s. During World War II, housing got so scarce in Seattle that Boeing Airplane machinist Albert C. and Lovella M. Kolbeck rented a portion of the house. By 1948, Edith Sprague, a waitress for Don’s Sea Foods, replaced the Kolbecks. The 1975 Historic Seattle Survey of the Wallingford neighborhood listed the house as Significant to the City. The 1979 Seattle Historic Resources Survey described the house as "One of the finest examples of Victorian architecture in area." The residence appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the age of the structure (over 100 years old) and minimal alterations. Sources: "Daniel R. Dailey" Seattle Times March 6, 1951. Clipping file. Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library Downtown Branch.   Appearance The Dailey/Kerr House was constructed about 1900 and altered in 1906. The front gable vernacular residence has some Queen Anne style elements A gable wall dormer is on the south elevation. A three sided bay window on east elevation and in 1906 a south elevation box bay window was added. Also added in 1906 is a four sided tower and cupola attached to the southeast corner of the residence. In 1906, the original porch, located on the south elevation, was extended to wrap around the full width of the east elevation. Square columns supported the flat porch roof which is a balcony with original? metal hand rails. On September 19, 1906 the Seattle Building Department issued the permit (# 44720) for the alterations. Few if any changes have occurred since then.

Detail for 4117 Whitman AVE / Parcel ID 1931300665 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Shingle, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one & ½ Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture Integrity Changes to Plan: Moderate Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: 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. Seattle Inventory Field Form. 1979. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1904-1905) 4 volumes. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1916-1919) volumes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1949-1950 update) 11 volumes. Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. “Wallingford: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.” Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975.

Photo collection for 4117 Whitman AVE / Parcel ID 1931300665 / Inv #

Photo taken Nov 23, 2004