Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 101 NE 51st ST NE / Parcel ID 9550204690 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name: Style: Tudor - Cottage Neighborhood: Wallingford Built By: Year Built: 1932   Significance This house was built for owner Nels A. Hammarberg in 1931-32. The name of the designer and builder are not indicated on the building permit for this particular project. Nels Hammarberg does not appear to be connected with Albert Hammarberg, a property owner associated with the development of a few nearby sites who typically took on the roles of designer and builder as well as owner. This building is significant because of its interesting and unusual development of the Tudor cottage type. It is also especially interesting because of the late date of its completion. By 1932, the local economy had already begun to suffer the painful decline in building activity that accompanied the onset of the Depression. The location of the house on a corner lot makes its unusual form more striking and obvious.   Appearance This house is a 1-1/2 story, brick veneered frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The steep, gabled roofs, the close rakes at the gable ends, the small entry porch and porch cover, and the extensive use of tall casement windows are all typical elements of Tudor cottage style homes. The layout of the building and the organization of the roof seem exceptionally complicated for a house of this size, however, and the organization of the facades is somewhat unusual for a house of this type. From the street to the north, the building appears to be a straightforward side gabled structure with a symmetrically organized elevation, although the covered entry porch is clearly located behind a chimney at the west end of the structure rather than at the center of the elevation. The end wall chimney and symmetrical organization of the north elevation give this side of the house a slightly Georgian flavor. From the street to the west, however, the building takes on a completely different character. Two brick gables dominate this façade, the southernmost projecting several feet nearer to the street than the gable to the north. The roof of the entry porch, situated between the two gables, appears to be an extension of a roof formed by a cross gable at the east end of the structure. The steep brick gables and the narrow window openings give this elevation a strong Tudor character, supported by the gentle curve of the west wall’s brick veneer where it extends beyond the face of the building’s south elevation. The apparent cross gable is not expressed on the north elevation but functions as the primary unifying element at the south elevation which is clad entirely with combed shakes and almost has the look of a Shingle style building, albeit with an unusually steep roof. The east elevation is difficult to see but consists of an east facing brick gable (the east end of the north elevation) and a side view of the south facing gable – in other words, a typical Tudor cottage façade. A hip roofed dormer is centered in the roof slope visible from the street to the north. A second dormer faces east from the east slope of the south-facing gable; it is hidden from the street by the gable at the east end of the north elevation. A chimney is centered in northernmost of the two gables at the west end of the structure; its wide face features a simple rectangular decorative relief element. Tall eight-pane casements are the typical window type at main floor level of the north and west elevations. At larger openings, two casements flank a wider undivided fixed sash window. A variety of window types, some obviously recent additions, are employed at the south elevation. Three wood double hung windows, with equal upper and lower sash, are ganged together and centered in the north side dormer; the east side dormer appears to be fenestrated with casements of quite recent vintage.. The design includes a number of unusual elements. - From the north and west, the house has the appearance of two simple cottages set right next to each other, but offset slightly to avoid coplanar gables. - A low slope shed roof replaces the small advancing gabled porch cover more typical of the Tudor cottage. The simple light timber expression of the porch structure has the appearance of a 1940s era neo-colonial tract house. - The north side dormer appears to have a hipped roof rather than a simple shed, allowing a slightly overhanging cornice to wrap all three sides of the dormer. - Corbelling of the brickwork just below the eave line at the two ends of the north elevation add an interesting medieval touch. The corbelling requires a slightly deeper cornice at the north elevation than is usually found in houses of this type. When this building was surveyed by the County Assessor in 1937, the dormers were finished with shingle siding. Today, the north and east side dormers are clad with wide boards which have not been squared at their butt edge. The resulting wavy horizontal lines give a rustic feel to the north side dormer that contrasts with its symmetrical organization. The entire south side of the structure is clad with combed shakes. Their condition suggests that this elevation of the house may have recently been resided. A few windows at the south elevation appear to be recent additions and storm windows have been added at a few of the existing openings on the south and west sides of the house. The extent of recent changes is not clear from the permit history, although it seems likely that the back of the house has been significantly remodeled in the not too distant past. However, the unusual form of the house dates from the first years of its existence, and the two street side elevations appear much as they did when the house was completed in the early 1930s.

Detail for 101 NE 51st ST NE / Parcel ID 9550204690 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Brick, Shingle - Combed, Wood, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Gable, Hip, Shed Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition-Shingle Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Irregular Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one & ½ Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development Integrity Changes to Windows: Moderate Changes to Plan: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Slight Major Bibliographic References City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records. King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.

Photo collection for 101 NE 51st ST NE / Parcel ID 9550204690 / Inv #

Photo taken Sep 20, 2004