Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1913 |
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Significance |
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 1913, this building was designed by Seattle architect, Ellsworth Storey. Local developer, Swanson & Austin, owned the building and gave their address as 1120 Marion Street. Swanson & Austin also built 3237 Hunter Boulevard. C. Norman and Lena D. Dickison moved into the building ca 1913. Mr. Dickison was an attorney. The building permit notes the plans for the residence were returned to S. Swanson in 1913 rather than the typical procedure of destroying the plans. In 1917, William Baker owned the building and hired contractor, A. A. Norquist, to alter non-bearing partition walls and install windows and oak flooring in the residence. Katharine Lundvall bought the property in January of 1931. Victor H. McClelland, listed as a student at the University of Washington in 1930, moved into the building ca 1937. M. F. Buckley purchased the building in May of 1941. By 1943, Eugene W. Dils lived in the building, followed by William Adams from 1954 through 1958. The building sold in January of 1961 for $13,750.
Prominent Seattle architect Ellsworth Storey (1879-1960) was born in Chicago and studied architecture at the University of Illinois. He came to Seattle in 1903. Storey is best known for his residential designs in Seattle and his later work at Moran State Park on Orcas Island. Storey designed many houses in the Mount Baker neighborhood, ranging from the modest cottages located near Colman Park to the imposing Classical (Georgian) Revival style Phiscator Estate house at 3311 Cascadia Avenue. Storey worked in a variety of eclectic styles; however, his most original designs combined Chalet, Arts and Crafts, and Prairie School influences into a unique style adapted to the Northwest region (Hildebrand in Shaping Seattle Architecture 1994, 107). Other important houses in the Mount Baker area include three houses for Robert M. Dyer, Sextan Swanson house and Swanson and Austin house (both 1913) on Hunter Boulevard, and the Robert M. Evans house (1913). Storey also designed the Beacon Hill Congregational Church (1910, now Beacon Hill First Baptist Church), University Presbyterian Church "Inn" and the Sigma Nu fraternity in the University District.
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.
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Appearance |
Built in 1913, this compact, Craftsman-influenced, Arts & Crafts 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 1024 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a square plan, measuring 32’ by 32’, with a 10’ by 14’ partially recessed front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the cross gable roof. Broad overhanging open eaves and gables with exposed purlins and prominent bargeboards define the roofline. Shed roofs shelter the first story windows on the front and side facades. Wood sash double hung windows provide day lighting. Two flights of stairs lead up from the sidewalk to the front porch. Battered shingle-clad piers support the gabled front porch roof. The varied roofline, eave and gable detailing and prominent front facing gables set this building apart as unique within the neighborhood. This intact building contributes to the visual character of Hunter Boulevard South. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Shingle |
Foundation(s): |
Unknown |
Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
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No. of Stories: |
two |
Unit Theme(s): |
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Integrity |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Major Bibliographic References |
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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Architects Reference Files, Special Collections and Preservation Division, University of Washington Libraries.
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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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