Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1924 |
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Significance |
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This house was erected in 1924 by Anspaugh & McDonald, apparently a joint venture established by contractors Fred L. Anspaugh, who lived at 2507 Northlake, and Charles E. McDonald, who resided at 2114 N. 36th. The latter man’s address appears as the address of the builder on the permit application for the structure at 4136 Eastern. The house was built for property owner John B. Metcalf, who listed his address as 1102 3rd Avenue on the permit application. Metcalf was a lawyer with the firm of Metcalf & Metcalf, which maintained offices at 2101 N. 45th Street and worked primarily with real estate loans, investments and insurance, judging from its listing in city directories.
The house is situated on a somewhat unusual site; N. 42nd Street jogs to the south at the mid block property line immediately to the east of the structure. As a result, the rear (east) elevation of the house is exposed to view from the public right-of-way.
Although there is no public record of a garage having been built at the site, a basement level garage door is visible under a recently added deck at the east elevation.
Despite the fact that the back of the house appears to have been modified, this structure is significant as an intact and fairly well-maintained example of late craftsman bungalow work built in the middle of Seattle’s second north end building boom. The clipped gable is an uncommon, but not unknown feature of bungalow style single-family residences in the Wallingford neighborhood. The local nature of the businesses operated by the owner and the two builders, and their focus as a group on the building industry during this boom period is also of historical interest.
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Appearance |
The house is a one-story, clapboard-clad frame residence built on a concrete foundation over a 3/4 basement. The low slope of the clipped gable roof, the wide bargeboards supported by triangular knee braces, the exposed undersides of the roof overhangs, and the detailing of the porch and windows are all typical of craftsman bungalow design. The four-unit window assemblies found at the west and north elevations of the structure, each consisting of a wide, transom-like unit with leaded glass over a group of three undivided fixed windows including a nearly square central unit and two smaller rectangular flanking units, are a type of assembly closely associated with the craftsman bungalow style.
An entry porch extends toward Eastern Avenue N. from the west elevation of the house and is protected by its own clipped gable roof. The south-facing slope of the porch roof is continuous with the south-facing slope of the main roof. Two battered built-up wood piers support the west end of the porch cover. Each pier stands on a capped square brick pedestal rising from grade to chest level. The entry door is located on the central axis of the porch and is flanked by two small leaded glass windows.
Located in the west wall north of the porch and illuminating the west end of the house is one of the two four-unit window assemblies. A rectangular attic window in centered in the gable between two knee braces that support the clipped portion of the gable roof. Two vertical and two horizontal muntins stretch across the sash near the top, the bottom, and the two sides of the unit, forming a border of small rectangular and square lights around a large central light, in a typical craftsman pattern.
A chimney penetrates the roof overhang at the west end of the north elevation where it is flanked by two small square windows with leaded glass. East of the chimney, two rectilinear bays with clipped gable roofs extend toward N. 42nd Street from the north façade of the house. A four-window assembly similar to that at the front of the house is centered in the larger of these bays, located near the center of the north elevation. Two casements separated by a substantial mullion are paired and centered in the smaller bay at the back end of the north elevation. Two smaller windows are paired in the section of wall between the two bays and appear to illuminate the kitchen.
A variety of windows appear pragmatically placed at the south elevation. A pair of double-hung windows are situated near the center of the façade. The upper sash of each unit is divided in a pattern similar to that employed in the attic window at the font of the house. A small window is located to the west; a smaller undivided double hung is located to the east and an undivided rectangular window appears to have been added near the southeast corner of the house.
A deck has been added at the east elevation of the house. A new back porch has been provided for the existing back door at the half-level between the main floor and the basement. The door that provides access to the deck form the main level of the house and a small nearby window are probably recent additions. A pair of casements in the east elevation near the northeast corner of the structure and an attic window similar to that in the front gable appear to be original.
No other significant modifications are apparent |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Brick, Wood, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
Roof Type(s): |
Gable - Clipped |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one |
Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
Integrity |
Changes to Plan: |
Slight |
Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
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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