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Summary for 342 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900095 / Inv #

Historic Name: McBride, Henry House Common Name: McBride House
Style: American Foursquare Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Built By: Year Built: 1905
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.
The McBride House was constructed in 1905. In January 1905 Henry McBride (1856-1937) completed his term as Governor of the State of Washington. McBride moved to Seattle and started a law firm with former Attorney General W. B. Stratton and Col. Charles Dalton. While getting his law practice established, McBride purchased some land on the south side of Queen Anne Hill. He hired architect Frederick A. Sexton to design and supervise the construction of his house. Englishman Frederick Sexton (b. 1851), when 9 years old immigrated with his parents to the United States. During the 1880s, he lived in Minnesota, married and started raising four children. By 1887 the Sextons moved west to Tacoma, Washington. During his four-year stay in Tacoma among the buildings Sexton designed was the original building for Puget Sound University. Then he moved to the new town of Everett and designed many of the town’s earliest buildings. In 1901 he moved to Seattle and set up an architecture practice that lasted ten years. Recognized for his designs of school buildings, Sexton drew plans for schools in West Seattle, Ballard, the first Everett schools, and schools in many other Washington towns. During his Washington career he also designed business blocks and many prominent residences, many in Mission Revival style, throughout the state. (Seattle of Today p. 223; Pacific Builder & Engineer Aug 17, 1907 p. 7) The Seattle Building Department issued a building permit on May 16, 1905 (Permit # 34944) for a 41 x 46 foot two story frame residence. The permit gave architect and contractor Sexton four months to complete the house. Henry and wife Alice McBride probably moved into the completed house by the end of 1905 and lived there for 13 years. Born in Utah in 1856, Henry McBride was raised by his widowed mother, his father having been killed by Indians in 1857 while in Idaho. McBride lived in California for two years before moving to Whidbey Island in 1882. While teaching in public schools, first in Oak Harbor and then at LaConner on Fidalgo Island, he studied the law and in 1884 passed the bar. He started a weekly newspaper in LaConner, but by 1887 he gave up on the newspaper business and moved to Mount Vernon. McBride joined the Republican Party and served as Prosecuting Attorney for Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties from 1888 to 1891 and Superior Court Judge from 1891 to 1896. That year the Populists swept most Republicans out of office including McBride. Two years later McBride, as head of the Skagit County Republican Party, turned back the Populist tide and the Republican Party once again dominated Skagit County politics. In 1900, the State Republican Party rewarded McBride with the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor, which he won. On December 26, 1901, McBride became Governor upon the death of Governor Rogers. In early 1905, after losing the 1904 State Republican Convention nomination for Governor, he moved to Seattle and established the legal firm of McBride, Stratton & Dalton. While living at the house on Kinnear, he remained involved in Republican Party politics. McBride unsuccessfully sought the 1908 Republican nomination for Governor and later considered running for Seattle Mayor. In 1916, the Republicans nominated McBride for Governor but he lost to Ernest Lister. About 1908 McBride invested in the lumber and shingle industry. During World War I he was examiner for the Puget Sound Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board. McBride’s married life began in 1884 when he married Alice Garrett (1864-1925), who was born in Washington to English immigrants. The McBrides had no children and the only other person who lived in the house was Alice’s mother, Roda Garrett (b. ca 1844). At the end of the WWI, the McBrides moved from Queen Anne to Capitol Hill. An obituary gave the following description of the former Governor: “Henry McBride was no backslapper: he kissed no babies: he was not hot nor impatient. … Self-possessed, reserved in speech and manner, Henry McBride had little use for those heady reformers bent on saving the world with jig-time methods.” (The Argus Oct 16, 1937 p 1) The Kinnear Park street car line ran along Olympic Place, one block from the McBride House. Some later occupants and owners. From the late 1920s through World War II Alarik and Jennie Quist occupied the house. Quist, a general contractor and vice president of Nelson Iron Works, served as Vice Consul for the Finland Consulate. Edith Van Kleek purchased the house in 1948 and lived there into the 1960s. The 1975 Historic Seattle Survey of the Queen Anne neighborhood lists the building as Significant to the Community. The 1979 Seattle Historic Resources Survey inventoried the house. The residence appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the significance of the architect, Frederick A. Sexton, significance of the first occupant, Henry McBride (1856-1937), who served as Washington State Governor from late 1901 until early 1905, age of the structure (over 100 years old), and minimal alterations. Sources: Interlaken August 22, 1908 p. 2 col. 3. Seattle Times August 17, 1925 "Henry McBride" Argus October 16, 1937 p. 1. "M'Bride is Out with Platform" Seattle Post-Intelligencer March 19, 1916. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "About a Number of People" Town Crier (not dated). Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Succeeds to the Governorship" Tacoma Ledger December 27, 1901. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Birthday Record - February 7" Seattle Post-Intelligencer February 7, 1916. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "State Should Remain in Dry Column, Says McBride" Seattle Post-Intelligencer September 21, 1916. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Pioneer Bought His Bride for $60" (newspaper not titled, no date). Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Gov. McBride, at 80, Refuses to Let New Deal Bother." Seattle Times February 27, 1936. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. Meany, Edmond S. "Governors of State … Henry McBride" Seattle Post-Intelligencer October 16, 1915(?). Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Hon. Henry McBride" Prosser, History of the Puget Sound Country. Vol. 2, pp. 87-89. "McBride, Henry" Wolfe, Sketches of Washingtonians. p. 236. "Sexton, F. A." Architecture Reference File. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Sexton, Frederick A." Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture. p. 350
 
Appearance
In 1905 architect and contractor Frederick Sexton (b. 1851) designed and built the foursquare McBride House. In 1924 an one story addition and porch was added to the rear of the east elevation (Permit 233623). Exterior chimney added to east elevation. Two hip dormers. Elaborate bracketed overhanging eaves. Wrap around open porch with fat round columns and an added balcony and handrail on porch roof. Stained leaded glass windows. Four bay windows.

Detail for 342 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900095 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Stucco Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Hip Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Irregular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Windows: 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.
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
City of Seattle. Seattle Inventory Field Form. 1979.
Prosser, William F. A History of the Puget Sound Country. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903
Wolfe, Wellington C. Sketches of Washingtonians. Seattle, W. C. Wolfe & Co., 1906.
Pacific Builder and Engineer
Argus
Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1904-1905) 4 volumes.
Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1916-1919) volumes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1949-1950 update) 11 volumes.
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. “Queen Anne: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.” Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975.
Seattle of To-Day, Illustrated. Seattle: National Publishing Company, ca. 1908.

Photo collection for 342 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900095 / Inv #


Photo taken Apr 04, 2003
App v2.0.1.0