Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
Colonial - Colonial Revival |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1930 |
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Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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Built in 1930, this building was owned by John and Hannah K. Otteson. Mr. Otteson was president of John Otteson Inc., an excavating company with an office in the Smith Tower, room 1501. Louis B. Blackfield purchased the building in October of 1941 and lived in the building through 1958. Dee Bennett purchased the residence in January of 1972 for $33,000.
Architect Edward L. Merritt (1881-?) practiced in Seattle from 1909 until 1938. He was associated with Jud Yoho, owner of the Craftsman Bungalow Company and publisher of Bungalow Magazine (ca. 1909-18). In 1917, Merritt took over the Craftsman Bungalow Company with Yoho as an associate. Yoho & Merritt published their last plan book of Craftsman bungalows in 1920 and published a plan book on Colonial homes in 1921. Yoho & Merritt designed Craftsman style bungalows in Wallingford, Green Lake, the University District, and the Northgate area.
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.
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Appearance |
Built in 1930, this Colonial Revival style single-family dwelling stands on a pie-shaped lot. The building is oriented to South Hanford Street on a flat site 4’ above street level. This 1080 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 26’ by 30’, with a 2’ by 10’ stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, variegated brick-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the gable roof. Close cropped eaves define the roofline. Simple leaded glass windows remain in this house. The front entry is covered by a small portico with a widow’s walk and a wrought iron balcony. A prominent side chimney services this house. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Brick |
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: |
two |
Unit Theme(s): |
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Integrity |
Changes to Windows: |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
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Changes to Plan: |
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Major Bibliographic References |
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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City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
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Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
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Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
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Ore, Janet and Jud Yoho. (1997). “The Bungalow Craftsman and the Development of Seattle Suburbs,” in Shaping Communities and Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. Ed. by Hudgins & Crowley. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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