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Summary for 3124 CASCADIA AVE / Parcel ID 5700004015 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Colonial - Colonial Revival Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1923
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.
Built in 1923, this building was constructed after Homer C. and Amanda MacDonald purchased the land in August of 1907, according to tax records. Construction started in April of 1922. Mr. MacDonald was a cashier with First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank. The MacDonald’s lived in the building through 1954. By 1958, Noel B. Heyrend lived in the building. Schack, Young and Myers was a well-known firm of Seattle architects and engineers who designed many commercial buildings in the 1920s. James Hansen Schack and David John Myers were architects, and Arrigo M. Young was an engineer. The firm was founded in 1920, and Myers left the firm in 1929. The firm designed several buildings in the University District including the Eldridge Buick dealership, the Gelb Building, the Alpha Phi sorority, the Theta Xi fraternity, and the University Baptist Church. Most designs by Schack, Young & Myers were in academic eclectic styles. David Myers (1872-1936) was born in Scotland and came to Seattle shortly after the fire of 1889. After studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Myers returned to Seattle in 1905 as the junior partner of John Graham, Sr. From 1917 to 1920, Myers was a member of the architecture faculty at the University of Washington. Myers was noted for his fine residential work, such as the Truax residence on Capitol Hill. He was with the firm of Schack,Young & Myers from 1920-1929. 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.
 
Appearance
Built in 1923, this Colonial Revival style single-family dwelling stands on an irregular lot. The building is oriented to Cascadia Avenue South on a sloped site at street level. This 1485 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 45’ by 33’, with a 4’ by 7’ stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the side gable roof. Shallow eaves and prominent dentils define the roofline. The stoop is centered on the front façade. The stoop roof is a widow’s walk carried on two pilasters and columns with wrought iron balustrade. The windows are 6:1 wood configured in pairs. Centered over the front door is a French door leading to the widow’s walk.

Detail for 3124 CASCADIA AVE / Parcel ID 5700004015 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick 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: two
Unit Theme(s):
Integrity
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.

Photo collection for 3124 CASCADIA AVE / Parcel ID 5700004015 / Inv #


Photo taken

Photo taken Nov 04, 2003
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