Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
American Foursquare - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1910 |
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Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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Built in 1910, this building was designed by the Seattle architecture firm of Bebb & Mendel. Louis L. Mendel owned the building. Mr. Mendel was also vice president of Brown Mendel Investment Company. James Murdock was the builder. The building cost $7,500. In 1911, the building was owned by L. D. Boules and he hired James Murdock to enclose the porch with glass and sash. In 1917, Mr. Boules hired James Murdock to finish the room in the attic. Electra M. and John F. Duthie purchased the building in December of 1918. Mr. Duthie was president of Wallace Bridge and Structural Steel Company. Helen A. Rose purchased the building in July of 1940. Robert E. Mullarky purchased the house in September of 1941 and hired Northern Construction Company to change the arch and doorway of the residence. Mr. Mullarky resided in the building through 1958.
Bebb & Mendel was one of Seattle’s most prominent architectural firms during the first fifteen years of the 20th century. Charles Herbert Bebb (1856-1942) and Louis Leonard Mendel (1867-1940) formed a partnership in Seattle in 1901. During the next 13 years, the firm designed some of Seattle’s largest and finest homes, hotels and commercial buildings. They worked in a variety of styles. Some of their major buildings included the Everett Theater (1901), University Heights School (1902), Oriental Block (1903), Frye Hotel (1911), Hogue Building (1911), and First Church of Christ Scientist (1914). Following the dissolution of the partnership in 1914, Mendel continued his architectural practice independently.
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.
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Appearance |
Built in 1910, this substantial, Craftsman-influenced, American Foursquare style, single-family dwelling stands on an irregular-shaped corner lot at the intersection of Cascadia Avenue South, Shoreland Drive South and South McClellan Street. The building is oriented to South McClellan Street on a sloped site. This 1862 square foot, two-and-a-half story house with a full daylight basement features a square plan, measuring approximately 41’ by 40’, with an 8’ by 11’ recessed front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the hip roof and cross gables. Overhanging eaves and gable ends with decoratively cut bargeboards and exposed rafters and purlins define the roofline. Wood sash 1:1 windows provide day lighting. An enclosed sun porch extends off the side facade. A direct flight of steps leads to the recessed front stoop. The second floor projects slightly over the main entrance. Decorative scroll-type brackets carry the projecting second floor. Two brick chimneys with decorative brick work service the building. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Brick |
Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two & ½ |
Unit Theme(s): |
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Integrity |
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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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City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
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Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
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Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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