| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1915 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1915 at the tail end of Seattle’s first north end building boom. It was built by W. H. Bryan and, according to the building permit, was designed by the owner, Estola Barr.
The structure was permitted as a one-story residence and the upper level was apparently not habitable when the Assessor’s office surveyed the property in 1937. It appears that a portion of the attic has been converted to residential use in the years since the survey was completed.
An attached garage was added to the building in 1958 according to the permit record. The front end of the house appears to have been rebuilt in 2001-02.
Although some of the original materials have been modified or replaced and a substantial amount of remodeling has been completed, this structure remains significant because of its unusual front porch and the Moorish flavor imparted to its essentially craftsman style detailing by the decorative bracketing at the base of the entry porch gables. This house was described by Folke Nyberg and Victor Steinbrueck as a building of significance to the Wallingford community in "Wallingford: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources." The extent of the modifications undertaken since the Nyberg/Steinbrueck survey was completed make it unlikely the structure would qualify for landmark designation.
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| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, clapboard clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The low slope of the roof, the wide bargeboards, the extended overhangs with exposed framing, and the detailing of the entry are all derivative of a typical craftsman approach to house design, although the styling of the structure has been developed in an idiosyncratic manner.
The entry porch stretches across the entire street façade of the structure but is divided into three parts. At each end, a highly figurative gable projects toward the street. The wide bargeboards at the outer edges of the deep gable overhangs appear to be supported by vertical elements bearing on a similarly proportioned cross member stretched across the upper face of projecting “purlins” or “ceiling beams.” All of these elements appear to be decorative elaborations of typical craftsman features. Large, built-up wood piers bearing on capped brick pedestals support the outside corners of the two gabled porch roofs. Tudor arches, defined by built-up wood brackets extending from the inside faces of the piers and apparently supporting the bases of the two projecting gables, give the structure a curiously Moorish flavor. Low railings assembled from heavy wood members in a manner typical of craftsman style houses stretch between the pedestals everywhere except where a concrete stair, centered under the northernmost gable, enters onto the porch. A timber trellis stretches between the two projecting gables over the middle third of the entry porch.
The wide entry door is situated on the axis of the entry stair and is protected by the northernmost of the projecting porch gables. It appears that the original door has been replaced with a custom built unit of sympathetic design. The door is flanked by two wide sidelights featuring leaded glass windows.
Toward the south end of the east elevation, a large window assembly illuminates the front of the house. The assembly consists of a wide central unit flanked by two similar but somewhat narrower units. Each unit has an upper component with leaded glass and a larger, undivided lower component. Although it is likely that these three windows are double-hung units, the functional aspects of the assembly have been disguised by the installation of storm windows.
Centered in the main roof over the entry porch, a low dormer opens to the east. Its system of bargeboards with supporting structure is similar to that of the two east-facing porch gables, and like the system associated with each of the latter two structures, its system has recently been replaced or rebuilt.
A large side gable is the major unifying feature of the north elevation. The bargeboards of the main roof are supported by the same system of vertical elements bearing on a cross member stretched over the ends of extended beams seen in the entry porch gables. In contrast to the gables at the front of the house, however, the decorative elements of the main north end gable appear to have retained their original materials and detailing. Gable roofed bays project toward the side yard driveway at each end of the north elevation. In each case, the outward facing slope of the bay roof in continuous with the slope of the main roof, and the decorative trim system is almost identical to that at the renovated front facing gables. Four nearly square windows are ganged together and centered high in the north-facing wall of the easternmost bay. A large rectangular window divided into six large lights (2 x 3) is centered in the north face of the westernmost bay. It is not clear if the fenestration associated with these two bays is original. At least one pair of windows is located in the north wall of the house between the bays, but this section of the elevation is not easily seen from the street. There does not appear to be a window in the main gable above.
As at the north elevation, the various elements of the south façade are united by the south facing main gable. The system of decorative elements supporting the wide bargeboards at the south elevation has been modified to allow for the recent installation of a pair of double-hung windows to light the upper floor at the south gable end. Several of the vertical elements (at lest three) and an equal number of projecting beams have been removed (or not replaced). At the main level below, a group of three double-hung windows (ganged together and configured to resemble the three-part assembly at the street elevation) illuminate what is probably the dining room somewhat west of the center of the south elevation. Near the east end of the façade, a chimney rises through the overhang and is flanked by two relatively small leaded windows. At the west end of the façade, a gable-roofed wing extends to the south. The west-facing slope of its roof appears to be continuous with that of the main roof. Four double-hung windows, each with a small upper sash over a larger lower sash, are ganged together and centered in the south wall of the wing.
When the front end of the house was rebuilt in 2001-02, most of the bargeboards and many of the front porch trellis elements were modified (or replaced). As a result, the ends of the bargeboards have lost their dramatic angles and distinctive notching, and the ends of the projecting components of the trellis have been significantly simplified. In addition, the decorative medallions that once marked the presumed attachment points of the large vertical elements stretching between the bargeboards and the projecting “purlins” or “ceiling beams” below were not replaced. (The original condition is still visible at the north end main gable). Similar modifications have been made to portions of the south and north facing gables. New glass or clear plastic panels are now supported by the trellis framing in the middle of the street façade, providing weather protection for the middle portion of he entry porch but significantly modifying the functional aspects of the design. |
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