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Summary for 3315 HUNTER BLVD / Parcel ID 5700002980 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Vernacular Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1913
 
Significance
Built in 1913, this residence was designed by the Seattle architectural partnership of Huntington & Loveless and owned by H. Lawry. James M. and Lila B. Barr bought the building in December of 1935. Mr. Barr was assistant auditor for the Washington Mutual Savings Bank. The Barr’s remained in the building through 1958. Bernard L. E. bought the building in December of 1961 for $16,500, Lloyd M. October purchased it in 1962 for $15,000, and Thomas W. Sheehan purchased it in August of 1972 for $19,500. Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971) studied architecture but did not complete his degree at Columbia University. He came to Seattle in 1907 and formed a partnership with Clayton Wilson, working primarily on large residences. He then worked briefly with Daniel Huntington until opening his own practice in 1915. Loveless is best known as an eclectic designer of houses that featured elegant detailing between about 1908 and 1942. He did a considerable amount of work in the Tudor Revival style. He designed more University of Washington sororities and fraternities than any other architect, including Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority (1929), Beta Theta Pi (1922), Alpha Gamma Delta (1923), and Zeta Psi (1927). His award-winning projects included his own residence, his office, and the Darrah Corbet residence. His best-known work is the Studio Building (1930-33) on Capitol Hill at 711 Broadway East, which included his office. 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.
 
Appearance
Built in 1913, this compact, Vernacular style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Hunter Boulevard South on a flat site 3’ above street level. This 896 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 40’ by 24’, with a 22’ by 8’ front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the gable front roof. Modest closed eave and gable overhangs with cornice returns and two prominent gabled wall projections define the roofline. Wood sash multiple-lite windows provide day lighting. A port cochere on the building’s south side provides a sheltered entrance. A prominent gable end chimney services the building. The twin gabled wall projections and port cochere, combined with the building’s overall form, set it apart as unique within the neighborhood. This intact building contributes to the visual character of Hunter Boulevard South.

Detail for 3315 HUNTER BLVD / Parcel ID 5700002980 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Shingle 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."
University District Historic Property Inventory Forms
Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.

Photo collection for 3315 HUNTER BLVD / Parcel ID 5700002980 / Inv #


Photo taken Oct 24, 2003

Photo taken
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