Historic Name: |
Gillespie, Thomas and Ella, House |
Common Name: |
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Style: |
Ranch, Spanish - Mediterranean |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1936 |
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Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This house, noted in the 1970s city-wide historic resources survey, is one of the relatively few built on Queen Anne during the Depression, in 1936. The building has a ranch house form, but is notable for its interpretation of the Mediterranean Revival style, with hollow tile cladding, an entryway decorated with ceramic tile and unusual bottle glass and leaded glass windows. It was built for Thomas Gillespie, with Fidelity Savings & Loan and owner of the Franca Villa apartments across the street. He and his wife Ella lived here until 1950. The Mediterranean style of the apartment building may have inspired the style and ornament of the house, as many of these details, such as the bottle glass, are seen in Anhalt's buildings. Gillespie later moved to 719 W. Lee Street in a house designed for him by T. Dunstand; it became the home of Senator Warren Magnuson. After several short-term owners, Ralph and Florence Johnston, owners of the Camelot Apartments at 515 N. 50th Street, lived here from 1958 into the 1970s.
The architect, James M. Taylor, Jr., had worked as a draftsman in the office of John Graham, one of the city's most prominent architects. He also may have had a direct connection with Fred Anhalt. In 1928-29 he joined with Paul Thiry to design Lakecrest Apartment Court in Madison Park. The addition to that building is Mediterranean in style, and was designed and built by Anhalt.
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Appearance |
This distinctive house is a ranch house with a gable-front-and-wing form and a two-car attached garage at the north end. Cladding is hollow clay tile in shades of red and brown, with a red clay tile roof. The main body of the house has a side gable roof, with a front gable wing projecting near the center. The garage, at the north end, also has a front gable roof. The entry, near the center of the main (east) facade, is a small recessed porch ornamented with colorful ceramic tile and heavy textured stucco. The large oak door is flanked by bottle glass windows. Windows to the south of the entry and on the gable end are unusually heavily leaded and bottle glass. There is a large brick chimney at the south end and another at the center of the house. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Other |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Clay Tile |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one |
Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
Integrity |
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Major Bibliographic References |
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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Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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Kreisman, Lawrence. Apartments by Anhalt. Seattle: Kreisman Exhibit Design, 1978.
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