| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Beacon Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1924 |
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| Significance |
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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 1924, this building was owned by Peter Olsen. The building permit lists Craftsman Bungalow Company as the architect. N. C. Rosenfeldt was the contractor The building was valued as $3500. In 1924, Mr. Olsen hired N. C. Rosenfeldt again to construct a garage. By 1938, the building was vacant. Saxon Lew lived in the building by 1940 through 1943. By 1955 through 1968, Ralph H. Moon lived in the building.
The Chinese were the first group to come to the Northwest. They were recruited to work on railroad construction and in logging camps and canneries starting in the 1860s. During the 1920s and 1930s, Chinese-Americans began to move to areas like Beacon Hill and the Central Area from their initial settlement of Chinatown. Asian families were interested in living in residential neighborhoods, and Beacon Hill was affordable and close to their core area on the southeast edge of downtown. Beacon Hill did not have restrictive covenants found in more exclusive neighborhoods like Mount Baker, which precluded Asians and other minorities from purchasing homes in the area.
About seven Chinese families lived on Beacon Hill during the 1930s, including six Lew families and the Ng family. Many first-generation Chinese women worked in the garment or laundry businesses, including North Rainier Valley operations such as Black Bear Manufacturing Company.
During the internment of the Japanese during World War II, some Chinese-Americans moved to the Beacon Hill area to take over businesses left by the Japanese-Americans. The Asian population and number of Asian-owned businesses on the hill have continued to increase during the last fifty years. Today, there are more Asian Americans than any other single racial/ethnic group on Beacon Hill.
The percentage of Chinese students at Beacon Hill Elementary increased from none in 1910 and less than 1% in 1920 to 22.5% in 1964. Today the combined Asian percentage of students at Beacon Hill Elementary is 50.2%.
Beacon Hill is a long north-south tending ridge located southeast of downtown Seattle and stands 350 feet at its highest point. The hill’s steep topography deterred substantial Euro-American settlement through the early 1880s. Then, development of the area was stimulated by the introduction of streetcar lines in the 1890s, its proximity to Seattle’s main industrial area to the west, and the regrading of the hill’s north end in the early 1900s.
Originally acquired by the City in 1898, Jefferson Park was integrated into Seattle’s Olmsted system of parks, and the Olmsted Brothers prepared a plan for the park in 1912. The first public golf course west of the Mississippi opened at Jefferson Park in 1915. Jefferson Park has exerted a profound positive influence on the development of the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Because of its proximity to the International District, Japanese and Chinese families moved to Beacon Hill starting in the 1920s. World War I and II stimulated a surge in housing development associated with wartime industry. The construction of Interstate 5 in the 1960s and Interstate 90 in the 1980s sliced through the neighborhoods and contributed to Beacon Hill’s relative isolation. Today, Beacon Hill is an ethnically diverse working class community, which has a mixed Asian, Chicano, African American, and Caucasian population.
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| Appearance |
| Built in 1924, this Craftsman-influenced, Arts & Crafts style, single-family bungalow stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Sixteenth Avenue South on a flat site 2’ above street level. This 1438 square foot, single-story house with a full basement features an L-shaped plan, measuring approximately 26’ by 47’ by 4’, with a 22’ by 6’ front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the cross gable roof. Pronounced exposed purlins and braces with wide, decoratively cut bargeboards and eave and gable overhangs with exposed rafters define the roofline. Wood windows with multiple-pane upper sash and painted wood casings provide day lighting. Two flights of stairs lead to the front porch. Brick piers carrying wood posts support the porch roof. An exterior brick chimney services the building. This building is a good example of a typical bungalow in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
L-Shape |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Beacon Hill Historic Context Statement."
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Chew, Ron, ed. Reflections of Seattle's Chinese Americans, the First 100 Years. Seattle: University of Washington Press and Wing Luke Museum, 1994.
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Chin, Art. "Golden Tassels: A History of the Chinese in Washington, 1857-1977. Seattle: Art Chin, 1977.
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Chin, Doug. Seattle's International District: The making of a pan-Asian American community. Seattle: International Examiner Press, 2001.
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Chin, Doug and Art. Uphill: The Settlement and Diffusion of the Chinese in Seattle. Seattle: Shorey Book Store, 1973.
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