Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 325 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900360 / Inv #

Historic Name: Cawsey, C. C. House Common Name: Cawsey House Style: Tudor Neighborhood: Queen Anne Built By: Year Built: 1903   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. The Cawsey House was constructed in 1903. Born in Ontario, Charles C. Cawsey (ca 1866-1939) arrived in Seattle in 1887. Since his trade was a brickmason, Cawsey arrived in Seattle at a good time because the city had just come out of a four year depression. He arrived at the beginning of a four-year building boom, which exploded after downtown Seattle burned to the ground in June 1889. Cawsey was the first builder to complete a building over the ashes of the Seattle Fire, the Wah Chung Building. Building activity slowed almost to a halt from late 1892 to 1897 but Cawsey managed to survive. Another boom hit Seattle in 1898 after the steamer Portland arrived with its ton of Klondike gold. By 1900, Cawsey formed a partnership with John Carney and for the next three years they worked non stop on various construction projects. By the spring 1903 projects slowed somewhat so both partners took advantage of the lull to construct their personal residences. Carney constructed a house on Beacon Hill and Cawsey constructed his house on Queen Anne Hill. They both used architects Josenhans & Allan to design their homes. Timotheus J. Josenhans (1853-1929) arrived in Seattle in 1888 at the beginning of the city’s first major building boom. Josenhaus assisted in designing some of Seattle’s first electric powerhouses for electric and cable trolleys and in the mid-1890’s he designed buildings for what would become Washington State University. In 1890, Norris B. Allan arrived in Seattle likely drawn to the city by the post Great Seattle Fire reconstruction of the city. He set up his architecture practice and did well until the 1893 Panic stopped buildign construction. He managed to stay solvent until the city’s second major boom started by the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. In 1899, Josenhans and Allan formed a 13 year partnership. Among the Seattle buildings they designed, are the Blethen house (1901) and University of Washington’s Parrington Hall (1904). After the partnership dissolved both men continued to practice in Seattle until 1920. The Seattle building department issued Cawsey’s permit on April 25, 1903 and by fall 1903 Cawsey & Carney completed the house. The Cawseys walked one block to catch the Kinnear Park street car line to downtown Seattle. Cawsey family members would live in the house for the next 60 years. In 1907, Cawsey joined with Henry Lohse to form a new building contracting firm that lasted five years. For nearly the rest of his life, Cawsey continued constructing buildings throughout the northwest from Montana, to Spokane, to Victoria, BC, and to Portland. Among the Seattle buildings built by Cawsey are the Lowman Building, Seattle High School (aka Broadway High School), Ballard High School, Rainier Brewery, and downtown Seattle Carnegie Library. Cawsey never saw the need to build another residence for his family and remained there for the rest of his life. After his 1939 death, widow Laura lived there until the early 1950s. Their daughter Thirza inherited the residence and occupied the house until 1963, part of the time by the name of Thirza L. Hughes. The 1975 Historic Seattle Survey of the Queen Anne neighborhood identified the house as Significant to the Community. The 1979 Seattle Historic Resources Survey inventoried the house and described it as "unique". The Tudor Revival house appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the architect Josenhans & Allan, the well known builder and longtime occupant of the house Charles C. Cawsey, the age of the building (over 100 years old), and minimal alterations. Sources (see Reference below for complete citations): Permit #20147. Seattle Daily Bulletin April 27, 1903 p. 3 "Two Contractors Will Build" Seattle Daily Bulletin April 7, 1903 p. 3 "Mrs. J. E. Carney Dead" Seattle Post-Intelligencer September 29, 1911. Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library Lunzer, Jean Hudson "A Grand Old House Gets a Face-lifting" Seattle Times June 6, 1971. Located City of Seattle. Seattle Inventory Field Form. (Zabawa Home: Vintage Updated) Queen Anne News May 12, 1971. Located City of Seattle. Seattle Inventory Field Form. Watchie, Jeane "Charm of Early Days Haunts Refurbished Zabawa Home" Queen Anne News May 12, 1971. Located City of Seattle. Seattle Inventory Field Form. "New Residence of C. C. Cawsey" Pacific Record June 4, 1904 (vol. 2 # 23) p. 5. Ochsner, Shaping Seatle Architecture. pp. 346-347.   Appearance Josenhans and Allan firm designed the 1903 Tudor Revival Cawsey House. Three gable dormers on east elevation of steep pitched gable roof. A large shed dormer was added to west elevation. Decorative timbering to gable and dormer ends. Some leaded glass windows and some windows have teardrops to corners of sash. The house also has two three sided bay windows.

Detail for 325 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900360 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Stucco, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one & ½ 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. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1904-1905) 4 volumes. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1916-1919) volumes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1949-1950 update) 11 volumes. Seattle Daily Bulletin Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. “Queen Anne: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.” Seattle: Historic Seattle, 1975. Pacific Record "Cawsey & Lohse." Seattle of To-Day, Illustrated. Seattle: National Publishing Company, ca. 1908. p. 133 "Carney, Noted Builder, Dies" [John E. Carney] (not dated) Clipping file. Special Collections, University of Washington Library. "Carney, Noted Builder, Dies" [John E. Carney] Seattle Times May 31, 1939. Clipping file B4. Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library Downtown Branch.

Photo collection for 325 W Kinnear PL W / Parcel ID 3880900360 / Inv #

Photo taken Apr 04, 2003