| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
American Foursquare- Colonial, American Foursquare - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1910 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1910 for J. E. Austin. It was built by Groppenbacher and Kruge (apparently with offices in the Customs Building) and designed by F. F. Travis, according to the building permit. A separate permit was issued for the addition of a garage to the site in 1913; the builder was listed as Bert Ward and the owner was Guy Calghoun; however, the permit history suggests that another garage was added in 1921 by owner J. M. Nisbet. No mention is made of the fate of the earlier garage, though it seems clear the 1913 structure was no longer extant in 1921.
The house is significant as an intact, well executed and well maintained example of a housing type based on the American foursquare plan and known locally as the “Seattle box.” or “classic box” The house is labeled as a building significant to the neighborhood in “Wallingford: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources.”
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| Appearance |
| This house is a two story, wood clad frame residence on a concrete foundation (except for the porch which appears to be on a brick foundation) over a full basement. The front (south) façade is symmetrical above the first story; however, the hip-roofed, two bay porch is shifted off axis to the east and the entry stairs lead up to the southeast corner of the structure. The footprint of the structure jogs slightly eastward at the back end of the house and the rear elevation is less symmetrical that the front. The low slope of the roof, the broad overhangs, the hip roofed central dormer, the exposed roof framing and curved rafter tails, and the pervasive emphasis on the horizontal on an obviously vertical structure, all give the house a craftsman or prairie flavor. However, the detailing of the built up wood piers at the entry porch, which appear to follow the classical ordering of plinth, base, shaft and capital as they ascend from the porch deck to support the roof, suggests neoclassic styling. The non-rectilinear bay extending toward the street from the west elevation, the casement windows in the upper story, and the decorative bracketing supporting the corner bays all seem more reminiscent of late Queen Anne work.
Large square double hung windows are centered in the front and side elevations of the two projecting corner bays at the upper floor. The upper sash of the corner bay windows and of the ganged double hung windows in other parts of the building, the attic window, and the two flanking casements in the upper floor central window group are all characterized by a somewhat unusual muntin bar star pattern.
No significant modifications to the building are apparent from the street |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Wood, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Brick, Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Irregular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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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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