| Historic Name: |
McLean, M., House |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Prairie Style |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1903 |
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| Significance |
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This house, built in 1903, has some of the basic elements of the typical Seattle Box house, include corner window bays with brackets and decorative center windows. However, its distinctive shallow-pitched hip roof, deep eaves and lack of a front porch show a strong Prairie school influence. It was designed in 1903 by architects Kingsley and Anderson (permit #19022).
This neighborhood was one of the most prestigious in Seattle, as nearby 14th Avenue East, was known as Millionaires' Row, an “Avenue of Mansions” with the homes of many of Seattle's early business leaders. It is in the original Capitol Hill plat of James A. Moore, who gave the area its name. In 1900 Moore, who had already developed other Seattle neighborhoods, purchased and began platting 160 acres, roughly between 11th and 20th avenues, from Roy Street north to Galer. Before selling lots for construction, he graded and paved the streets (eliminating the dust that plagued many sections), installed sidewalks, water mains and sewer lines, and planned for street lights and telephone poles. Lots went on sale in 1901, heavily promoted to attract local business leaders as residents. The response was immediate. The quality infrastructure, convenient transportation, schools and other amenities proved to be very popular and the area was largely developed, with sizable, attractive houses, within only a few years.
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| Appearance |
| This Prairie-school house has a shallow hip roof with deep eaves and clapboard cladding with a wide belt course between the two stories. The extension of the house to north, forming a second-story deck, increases the horizontality of the design. The entry is near the center of the main portion, with a simple stoop covered by a bracketed hip roof. The second story corners have projecting window bays supported by curved brackets. Windows throughout have leaded upper sections in a geometric pattern. Most are double-hung, except for a fixed window near the entry and a group of casements above the entry. French doors with the same motif open onto the deck. The original deck balustrade, which had the same pattern, has been removed. |
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