| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Colonial - Dutch Colonial |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1921 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1921 for Susanna Kohls (Kohles according to Assessor’s record) by builder and designer H. A. Pratt (2357 47th Avenue S. W.). The house may have replaced a smaller frame cottage for which a permit was issued in 1904 (this earlier structure would have been addressed as 4336 Sunnyside Avenue N.); however, it has not been possible to determine if this earlier permitted structure was in fact erected.
The house presently located at the site retains a high degree of integrity and incorporates many elements of the Dutch colonial style but is made especially significant because of its unusual “L” shaped footprint. As with many houses of this type, it is located at a corner where its symmetrical front can be appreciated from one street and its distinctive roof form can be appreciated from another. However, the unusual wing extending to the south from the back of the house is also made more apparent by the corner siting. The shed roofed dormer at the back of the structure, although detailed to match the dormer at the north elevation, turns the corner made by the wing and the main structure, making the building appear as though it has been forcibly bent into a right angle.
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| Appearance |
| This house is a wood and shingle clad, two-story frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. Clapboards provide weather protection at the main level; the gable ends and dormers are sided with wood shingles. The gambrel-roofed structure is, in many respects, typical of the Dutch colonial revival cottages that became popular after the First World War. However, the house does have an unusual wing projecting southward from its southeast quadrant. This wing gives the structure an atypical “L” shaped footprint and the appearance of a gambrel shaped prism that has been forcibly bent into a right angle.
The roof overhangs the structure at both the eaves and the gable ends. This overhang is more pronounced than in many examples of the style. The cornice returns around the corner at the ends of the dormers. The undersides of the roof overhangs are finished.
The centered entry portico, with its classically detailed segmented pediment supported by two simple tapered columns, is a feature often associated with the Dutch colonial style. However, in this particular case the entablature does not continue across the front of the portico, leaving an awkward gap that causes the columns to look somewhat unstable and the pediment inadequately supported. The rise of the barrel shaped roof is controlled so that its apex engages the horizontal line formed by the base of the second story dormer. The gutters at the eaves of the porch roof extend the line of the gutter at the eave of the gambrel roof to the front corners of the portico. Pents continues the gutter line around the gable ends of the house except where one of these decorative structures is interrupted by the chimney centered at the west gable end.
Symmetrically placed either side of the entry are two window groups. Each group consists of a pair of double hung windows. Each double hung unit features a 12 light upper sash over a somewhat larger, undivided lower sash.
Above the main floor, three window groups are symmetrically placed in the face of the shed-roofed dormer. A pair of 12 light casement windows are centered over the entry portico. Near each end of the dormer is a pair of double hung windows; each individual unit consists of a 12 light upper sash over a somewhat larger undivided lower sash. At both the upper and lower floor levels, narrower double hung units with similarly organized and proportioned sash are symmetrically placed either side of the chimney centered in the gable at the west end of the structure.
It appears that metal handrails have been added at the entry stairs and the front door and sidelights may have been altered. In addition, some fence segments have been added in the front and side yards. There are no other apparent modifications to the exterior of the building. |
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