| 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: |
1913 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected 1913. City records indicate that the work was completed by building contractor Joseph Parker (who lived at 1718 3rd Avenue N.) for owner Henry Brice, whose address is listed as 4234 Densmore on the permit application. Brice is described as a “street contractor” or “grader” in various editions of Polk’s Seattle Directory; however, he seems to have worked regularly as a developer in the Wallingford neighborhood and was involved with the construction of several residences on Wallingford Avenue N. in the years prior to the First World War. The name of the designer is not properly recorded on the building permit; however, the structure was likely designed by Parker, who -- according to city permit records -- was often assigned that role when he worked on properties Brice developed in the area.
A later owner, William E. Miller (a clerk at the Northwest Fruit Exchange), had a garage built on the site in 1919. However, this structure does not appear to be extant and the King County Property Record Card for this property suggests that it was destroyed at some point between 1936 and 1972. The upper floor of the house appears to have remained “useful” but unfinished until some point after 1936.
Carl J Hasselstrom, a masseur, appears to have acquired the property in 1923 and owned it until at least 1936. His wife Beda still lived at the house in 1938. The permit record suggests that Betty Sullivan owned the house by 1969 and indicates that later owners included Susan Thorsen and T. C. Sullivan. The current owners, Richard Boerth and Wendy Oberlin, acquired the property from Mark and Karen Smuland in 1996.
This structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of a craftsman bungalow built in the middle of Seattle’s first north end building boom. It features a front porch with a capped cobble stone porch rail and pedestal structure, an archetypal element of the idealized craftsman home, although a feature somewhat rare among Wallingford bungalows. This house is also significant as an example of the variety of structures built on Wallingford properties developed by Henry Brice.
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| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, shingle clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The moderate pitch of the side gabled roof, the wide bargeboards supported by triangular knee-braces, the unenclosed undersides of the roof overhangs, the exposed rafter tails, and the detailing of the windows and the front porch all identify the structure as a craftsman bungalow. The cobblestone porch rails and support pedestals are a typical component of the idealized bungalow.
The porch roof gable facing the street is the dominant feature of this side-gabled house. However, this gable is smaller, and the associated roof ridge is lower than the main side gables. In addition, the house is deeper than the width of the side gables and, as a result, a third “main” gable faces west toward the rear of the house so that the main roof ridge forms a “T” when viewed from above.
The cobblestone sidewalls of the porch extend above porch deck level to form the porch rails. A flat, concrete (or perhaps stone) cap finishes the top edge of the railing. Engaged pedestals near the outside corners of the porch extend higher but are capped in a manner similar to the porch rails to provide a base for the doubled posts that support the porch roof. The base of the front gable is very deep and is divided into two components by an open web featuring heavy wood grillwork elements. The lower component of the base curves down at the ends to bear on a platform supported by the two wood posts at each outside corner of the porch roof. Two six-pane attic windows are paired and centered in the front facing porch gable. The entry stair and front door are centered under the front gable. The stair enters the porch through a gap in the cobblestone railing. A bungalow window (i.e., a double-hung window with a small upper sash divided into six lights arranged in a 2 x 3 pattern over a larger, undivided lower sash) is located either side of the entry; however, the window to the south is very near the entry whereas the other window is more or less centered in the wall to the north of the entry.
The south wall of the structure is partially hidden by a fence and mature landscaping. However, it appears a chimney is located at the south elevation near the front (east) end of the house. It is flanked by two single sash windows, each divided into six panes and set high in the wall in the typical bungalow manner. A gable-roofed bay projects into the side yard from the western end of the gabled portion of the south façade. The west-facing slope of the bay roof corresponds with the west-facing slope of the main roof. Three bungalow windows, a wide unit with six panes in the upper sash flanked by two narrower windows, each with four panes in the upper sash, are grouped and centered in the south wall of the bay. Two bungalow windows, each with four panes in the upper sash, are paired and centered in the main south-facing gable. A similar pair of windows is located west of the bay near the back (west) end of the house.
At the upper level of the north-facing gable is another pair of bungalow windows similar to the pair in the south-facing gable. An eight pane, single sash window is set high in the first floor wall at the east end of the façade near the middle of the elevation, an existing window appears to have been removed and a new smaller slider type window installed to replace it. West of the slider, but still in the gabled portion of the elevation, is a large double-hung unit with equal, undivided upper and lower sash. A small window is located high in the wall at the west end of the house. Small windows light the basement from the bottom of the façade; the westernmost unit appears to be a replacement.
The west end of the house is not visible from the street.
The decorative, rakish cut at the ends of the original bargeboards are no longer extant because the ends of the bargeboards have been plumb cut to align with the ends of the exposed rafter tails. As noted above, at least one first floor window has been replaced with a smaller unit at the north elevation and one of the basement windows appears to have been replaced as well. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Shingle, Stone - River Rock, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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