Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 132 NE 56th ST NE / Parcel ID 3856904315 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name: Style: Arts & Crafts - Craftsman Neighborhood: Wallingford Built By: Year Built: 1920   Significance This house was erected in 1920. It was designed and built by its owner, C. A. Hedwall who listed his address as 131 E. 57th Street on the permit application. In 1937, the house was owned by Hanna Hedwall. The building permit indicates that the upper floor was initially left unfinished. By 1937, the Assessor described the attic as “useful” but it apparently remained unoccupied. A detached garage is located in the rear yard west and north of the house. Although it appears to have existed when the Assessor surveyed the property in 1937, its construction is not recorded in the City’s permit history for the property. The house is significant because of its high degree of integrity and because it features some interesting elaborations of typical craftsman bungalow detailing while remaining essentially craftsman in its form and organization.   Appearance This is a 1-1/2 story, shingle and clapboard clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The moderately sloped, side-gabled roof, the wide, bargeboards supported by triangular timber knee braces, and the exposed framing at the overhangs are all typical elements of craftsman design. Craftsman elements are obvious in the detailing of the porch, which is sheltered by the main roof of the house and extends across the entire width of the south (street side) elevation. The front edge of the roof is supported by four battered built up wood piers that stand on battered brick pedestals rising from grade to just over porch rail height. An unusual decorative feature, a wooden arrowhead, projects from each of the four faces of each of four of the built-up piers. The entry stair approaches the porch from the south and is centered. The four piers supporting the roof are not evenly spaced across the front of the house. Instead, two of the battered piers stand either side of the stairs in the middle of the elevation, forming a central bay that is somewhat narrower than the bays to either side. The fully glazed entry door is centered in the south elevation. Muntin bars divide the door glazing into a large central glass pane bordered by a set of symmetrically organized rectangular lights. All of the bordering panes are of equal width. Two stretch across the top of the central glazing panel, two across the bottom. Two longer panes form the right hand border and two identical panes form the left hand border (the side borders stretch from the bottom of the top border to the top of the bottom border). More or less centered in the wall to either side of the entry door is a window assembly consisting of three double-hung windows -- a wide central unit flanked by two narrower units. The upper sash of each of these windows is divided into lights similar in dimension and organization to those in the entry door where a large central pane is bordered by a series of small, symmetrically organized rectangular panes, all of equal width. A large shingle clad dormer is centered in the south-facing slope of the side gabled roof. Two windows are paired and centered in the south face of the dormer. These two units were probably double-hung windows when initially installed. However, each now functions as a casement window. The sash of each unit is divided into two lights; the upper light is smaller than that below. At the west elevation, a window assembly consisting of three square units placed relatively high in the wall appears to illuminate the dining room in the southwest corner of the house. A single double-hung unit is located approximately in the middle of the façade, and a pair of double-hung units appears to light the kitchen at the back end of the west elevation. The muntin pattern at each of these windows is similar to that of the entry door and at the upper sash of the windows in the south elevation. A shallow porch is situated in a notch at the northwest corner of the structure. Two double hung windows are paired and centered in the west-facing gable. A smaller square fixed window is tucked under the roof overhang at either size of the gable. All of these units share the muntin pattern used at the body of the house below The north (rear) elevation cannot be observed from the street. The east elevation is very difficult to see because of the mature landscaping along the east property line; however, it is clear that a chimney rises along the east elevation, penetrating the eastern overhang of the south-facing slope of the roof near the ridge. Another chimney rises through the center of the structure and penetrates the ridge near its midpoint. A horizontal trim band, assembled from more than one trim piece, stretches across the side elevations at the base of the gables. This band separates the shingle siding in the gables from the clapboard siding that provides weather protection for the body of the house below. At the street side of the house, a second trim band (of approximately equal width and of similar configuration) abuts the bottom edge of the band crossing the gables and forms the base of the porch cover. A similar detail occurs at the back porch. A water table wraps the entire structure at porch level, the cap of this trim band becomes the edge of the porch decking at the front of the house. This trim element separates the clapboard siding at the main level of the house from the concrete foundation below. The foundation wall is penetrated by basement windows at several points around the structure. Most of the windows, including those in the gables and at the front porch, have been fitted with wood storm windows. Rafter tails, visible from the street when the house was built, are now hidden by gutters. The ends of the bargeboards have been modified. No other significant modifications are apparent.

Detail for 132 NE 56th ST NE / Parcel ID 3856904315 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick, Shingle, Wood, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition-Shingle Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one & ½ Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development Integrity Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Windows: Slight : Major Bibliographic References City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.

Photo collection for 132 NE 56th ST NE / Parcel ID 3856904315 / Inv #

Photo taken Sep 23, 2004