Seattle.gov Home Page
Link to Seattle Department of Neighborhoods home page

Seattle Historical Sites

New Search

Summary for 3804 S COURT ST S / Parcel ID 5700003140 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Colonial - Colonial Revival Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1916
 
Significance
Built in 1916, this building was owned by Jones & Phinney. In 1922, a garage was added. By 1938, Ernest M. Russell resided in the building. Thomas Klinefeltert lived in the building by 1940 through 1943, followed by William VanAmerongen by 1951 through 1953, William H. Sage by 1955, and James A. Masters by 1957 through 1961. By 1965 through 1968, George Zistatsis, a dry wall contractor, lived in the building. 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.
 
Appearance
Built in 1916, this compact, Arts & Crafts style, single-family cottage is oriented to South Court Street on a flat site 3’ above street level. This 1392 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a three-quarter basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 44’ by 35’, with a full width, partially enclosed front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the clipped side gable roof and dormers. Broad, open, overhanging eaves and gables with exposed rafters and modest bargeboards define the roofline. Wood sash multiple-lite windows provide day lighting. The extended roofline of the building shelters the front porch. Classically-influenced columns support the roof. A short flight of stairs flanked by low cheek walls leads to the porch. The front porch detailing and dormers set this building apart as an important stylistic variant within the neighborhood.

Detail for 3804 S COURT ST S / Parcel ID 5700003140 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Unknown
Roof Type(s): Gable - Clipped Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one
Unit Theme(s):
Integrity
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Plan: Slight
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.
City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."

Photo collection for 3804 S COURT ST S / Parcel ID 5700003140 / Inv #


Photo taken Nov 05, 2003

Photo taken Nov 05, 2003

Photo taken
App v2.0.1.0