| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
American Foursquare - Prairie |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1914 |
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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 1914, this building was owned by John Quest & Company. John Quest & Company also owned and built 3233, 3322 Hunter Boulevard. In 1921, the owner, A. Herschman, hired the Stewart Construction Company to build a garage. The building was bought by the Securities Service Inc. in April of 1936. Elmer I. and Signa G. Stebbins moved into the building ca 1937. Mr. Stebbins was a plumbing contractor and owner of Stebbins Hardware and Plumbing Company. The Stebbins’ previously resided at 1712 Thirty-Second Avenue South. By 1954 through 1958, Elmer W. Tew lived in the building. George Lee bought the residence in December of 1970 for $15,000.
Residences flanking Hunter Boulevard provide integral character-defining elements to the overall boulevard composition through their orientation towards the boulevard, their massing, heights, setbacks, dates of construction, and preserved set of architectural style variations. These residences and their individual building elements remain largely intact, conveying the original well-to-do middle class composition of this 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 1914, this Prairie style-influenced, American Foursquare style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Hunter Boulevard South on a flat site 7’ above street level. This 968 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a square plan, measuring 30’ by 30’. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. A significant one-story sunroom addition projects off the front facade. Asphalt composition roofing covers the hip roof. Multiple-lite wood sash windows provide day lighting. Broad closed eaves define the roofline. A short flight of stairs leads to the pedimented front stoop. Low brick cheek walls flank the stairs with wood posts supporting the gable porch roof. An exterior brick chimney services the building. The 1914 date of construction and American Foursquare style set this building apart from the predominantly Craftsman-influenced Arts & Crafts buildings along Hunter Boulevard South. This intact building contributes to the visual character of Hunter Boulevard South. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Wood - Clapboard, Brick - Common Bond |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Square |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
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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