| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1927 |
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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 1927, this building was owned by John P. Solby, who added a garage in 1929. Reportedly, Seattle architect, Alban A. Shay, designed the residence. The Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company purchased the residence in November of 1937. A tenant rented the building for $45 per month ca 1937. By 1938, Chester R. Storaasli lived in the house. Arthur Epstein purchased the property in June of 1941 and remained through 1968.
Alban A. Shay (1899-1991) completed his architecture degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Bebb & Gould in Seattle in 1924 and worked independently in Seattle from 1927-1935. From 1936-1939, he worked in partnership with Paul Thiry, and he returned to independent practice from 1940 to 1975. His designs included residences and commercial buildings in Seattle. He designed the Thiel residence (1928) in Mount Baker at 3328 Cascadia Avenue South.
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 1927, this substantial, Tudor Revival style, single-family cottage is oriented to South Court Street on a flat site 4’ above street level. This 1080 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a full basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 25’ by 36’, with a small front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the steeply pitched cross gable roof. Wood casement windows and a canted bay window with metal canopy provide day lighting. A gable roof shelters the front entrance with a heavily adzed marked lintel over the entrance. A brick chimney services the building. The entry detailing and bay window set this building apart as an important stylistic example within the Mount Baker neighborhood. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick - Common Bond |
Foundation(s): |
Unknown |
| 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 Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
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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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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