| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1921 |
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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 1921, this building was constructed after Mathilda Peterson purchased the property in June of 1917. Carl F. Peterson and Tillie resided in the building. Mr. Peterson worked as a laborer. The Peterson’s remained through 1958. Thomas B. Holmberg purchased the building in February of 1967 for $15,000. Lawrence Ezell bought the property in 1970 for $20,500.
In September 1912, on the date of the opening of Franklin High School, there were four elementary schools in the survey area. Listed from north to south, the elementary schools were Colman, Beacon Hill, York (renamed John Muir in 1921) and Hawthorne. All of these schools were built as a direct result of trolley lines making the North Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill accessible for residential development, and all of the schools were located close to trolley stops.
In 1876, King County School District #18 was formed, covering the North Rainier Valley. This district merged with the Seattle School District in 1907 when the city annexed the North Rainier Valley. Prior to annexation, the district, also called the Columbia District, was six miles long along the streetcar line and one mile wide on either side of the track.
Prior to 1912, high school students in the North Rainier Valley attended Franklin School, which was located at the present Washington Middle School site, or the Columbia School, which went through the high school level. The opening of Franklin High School at 3013 South Mount Baker Boulevard in 1912 was a momentous occasion for the Mount Baker community and the North Rainier Valley. The building was designed by Seattle School architect Edgar Blair in the Neoclassical style and was once considered the most beautiful school west of the Mississippi. It contained forty-two classrooms, two gymnasiums, a lunchroom on the third floor and a detached manual training room. In 1916, the school district purchased the former Malmo nursery property adjacent to the school for use as a playfield. Filled to capacity from the beginning, it was enlarged and modernized in 1958-59 and restored in 1990, based on a design by Bassetti Architects.
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 1921, this compact Colonial Revival style single-family dwelling is oriented to Thirty-Fifth Avenue South on a flat site 3’ above street level. This 1350 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a three-quarter basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 44’ by 28’, with an offset front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the side gable roof and gable roof dormers. Modest closed eave overhangs with trim define the roofline. Wood sash double hung windows provide day lighting. Tall first story windows accent the front facade. A short flight of steps leads to the front stoop. Classically-influenced columns support a gable stoop roof with cornice. A gable end brick chimney services the building. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Wood |
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): |
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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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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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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "North Rainier Valley Historic Context Statement."
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Centennial History, Columbia City, Rainier Valley, 1853-1991. Pioneers of Columbia City, 1992. Carey Summers, contributing author.
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Thompson, Nile and Marr, Carolyn J. Building for Learning, Seattle Public School Histories, 1862-2000. Seattle School District No. 1, 2002.
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Calkins, Kenneth L. The Name on the Schoolhouse. Washington State Retired Teachers Association, 1991.
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The Rainier Valley Citizen Annual, December 25, 1915. Facsimile Reproduction, the Shorey Bookstore, 110 Union Street, Seattle, Washington, 98101, 1979.
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