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Summary for 400 W Highland DR W / Parcel ID 1732800825 / Inv #

Historic Name: Claiborne, L. House Common Name: Claiborne/Parish House
Style: Various Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Built By: Year Built: 1902
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.
The Claiborne House was constructed in 1902. In 1890, with her husband Austin Claiborne (b. 1862) and two sons, ages one and six, Laura Claiborne (b. 1862) moved to Seattle from California in 1890. Tennessee native Austin Claiborne was the Seattle agent for the Arctic Oil Works and Pacific Steam Whaling Company. The Claibornes apparently divorced about 1901. Laura Claiborne received some of the couple’s Seattle property. She developed this property by building residences and selling them. The September 28, 1903 Seattle Daily Bulletin described Laura Claiborne as “one of the ablest real estate speculators in the city”. Apparently sometime during 1905 or early 1906 Laura Claiborne married Jay C. Allen. In early January 1902, Laura Claiborne hired architect John Graham, Sr. (1873-1955) to design four residences near the northwest corner of 4th Avenue West and West Highland streets. There were two six room residences constructed along 4th Ave West and two larger residences (an eight room and a nine room) that fronted on West Highland Drive. The Claiborne houses were early commissions for Graham. John Graham, Sr., born in Liverpool, England, immigrated to the United States, and by 1901 had moved to Seattle. Graham immediately began his Seattle professional career one that would last 45 years. Among the dozens of Seattle buildings designed by Graham were several buildings for the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition at the site of the University of Washington (1909), Joshua Green Building (1913), Ford Assembly Plant (1913) to assemble the Model T, Frederick and Nelson Building (1919), Dexter Horton Building (1924), and the Bon Marche Store (1929). Graham selected Ira A. Smith to construct all four houses. Long time building contractor Smith spanned the city’s two largest building booms. He arrived in Seattle about 1888 in the midst of the city’s first major building boom and remained in Seattle until 1907 near the end of its second major boom. The Seattle Building Department issued the permit for 400 W Highland Dr. in late January 1902 and within six months Smith completed the residence. Claiborne owned the house for about four years. Before automobiles started to dominate the streets of Seattle most residents moved around the city on its extensive street car lines. The Kinnear Park street car line to downtown Seattle ran along Olympic Place, about three blocks from the Claiborne House. Later occupants. In March 1906 Claiborne sold the house to Jessie T. Parish. In 1909 Eugene Anderson (b. ca 1873), head of Western Dry Goods wholesalers, rented the house for a year with his wife, two sons and two daughters ages 3 to 10. The Pigotts lived in the house from about 1921 into the 1950s. Henry C. Pigott, President of the Pigott-Washington Printing Company died in the late 1930s or early 1940s leaving the house to his wife Juliet T. Pigott. By the late 1940s son Edward J. Pigott, Post-Intelligencer writer and proof reader, inherited the house. By 1961, Leila O. Dunphy, employed by the Northwest Advertising Agency, occupied the house. The 1975 Historic Seattle Survey of the Queen Anne neighborhood listed the house as Significant to the Community. The 1979 Seattle Historic Resources Survey inventoried the house. The house was one of architect John Graham, Sr.'s earliest commissions. The residence appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the significance of the architect, age of the structure (over 100 years old) and minimal alterations. Sources: Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture. pp. 90-95. Seattle Daily Bulletin January 13, 1902 p. 7; January 23, 1902 p. 3; January 24, 1902 p. 3; November 25, 1902 p. 3; November 26, 1902 p. 3; January 8, 1903 p. 3; September 28, 1903; November 6, 1903 p. 3
 
Appearance
On January 23, 1902 the Seattle Building Department issued a building permit to Laura Claiborne to construct a 26 x 42 foot residence (permit # 12248). By the summer 1902, builder Ira A. Smith completed the house. In the fall of 1903 Claiborne excavated under the house for a basement (permit # 23850). The Claiborne House is a side gable house. It has a large porch with paired square posts supporting a large hip roof that projects from the south elevation. Gable dormer with an arched window on south elevation. Two three sided bay windows and a half round window on east elevation. Most of the building's double hung windows have decorative upper sash or multipaned upper sash. Garage addition to rear of building (north elevation).

Detail for 400 W Highland DR W / Parcel ID 1732800825 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Shingle, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Block
Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Irregular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
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.
Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
City of Seattle. Seattle Inventory Field Form. 1979.
Seattle Daily Bulletin
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. “Queen Anne: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.” Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975.

Photo collection for 400 W Highland DR W / Parcel ID 1732800825 / Inv #


Photo taken May 13, 2003
App v2.0.1.0