Historic Name: |
Beam-Waltz House |
Common Name: |
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Style: |
Colonial - Dutch Colonial |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1922 |
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Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This house was built in 1922 by Wells Gwinn, a contractor who built numerous houses and apartment buildings in Seattle. It was built for Edwin G. Beam and his wife Emma; Beam was a superintendent at Commercial Boiler Works. In 1934 it was purchased by Harry L. Odendahl, a manufacturers’ agent (1930s). The owners with the longest tenure were Russell S. Waltz, the president of CDP Company, and his wife Lucille, who lived here from the 1940s into the 1970s. The current owner has lived here since that time.
Wells Gwinn began doing construction work with his father in his native Nova Scotia, and established a home construction business when he moved to Seattle in 1907. In 1910 he purchased an apple orchard in Wenatchee, soon becoming an organizer of the Wenatchee Valley Fruit Exchange. He continued in construction until 1926, building many Seattle-area homes. In 1927 he left construction to found the Acme Finance Company, and focused on this and other business activities. He also served on the board of Seattle Pacific College for more than twenty years.
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Appearance |
This Dutch Colonial house has the clapboard cladding, symmetrical façade and gambrel roof typical of this style. The most notable feature is the oversized arch above the entry stoop. This flat arch mirrors the arched fanlight over the door, which has ten-light sidelights. Above the entry is an arched window with tracery in a lancet pattern, flanked by two six-light casement windows . On each side of the entry is a group of three six-over-one windows, with two similar groups on the second floor. The east and west elevations each have two eight-over–one windows flanking a smaller casement window. The west elevation has a secondary entry in a small enclosed porch with three six-light casement windows; above this is a small leaded semicircular window in the gable end. The east side has quarter-circle windows flanking the chimney. |
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