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Summary for 3604 38th AVE / Parcel ID 5700003125 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Arts & Crafts - Craftsman Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1909
 
Significance
Built in 1909, this building was occupied by Herman Filk by 1938 through 1955. By 1961, Raymond P. Philips lived in the house. The 1965 Polk directory lists the building as vacant. By 1968, Mrs. Anna Mason occupied the building. The Mount Baker neighborhood comprises two north-south tending ridges located southeast of downtown Seattle along Lake Washington. Initial development of the area occurred relatively late, post-1900, following the construction of the Rainier Avenue Electric Street Railway in the 1890s. York Station on Rainier Avenue and the Dose Addition were developed earlier than the Mount Baker Park Addition, platted in 1907 by the Hunter Tract Improvement Company. The Mount Baker Park Addition represents the core of the neighborhood and is its primary character-defining feature. Mount Baker Park is one of Seattle’s earliest planned residential communities that successfully integrated the natural environment and a relatively exclusive residential neighborhood in its layout of lots, streets, boulevards, and parks. The houses, primarily built between 1905 and 1929, reflect a variety of eclectic and Northwest-based architectural styles, and include designs by many prominent local architects. Other important influences were the streetcar connection with downtown Seattle, the integration of local parks and boulevards into the Olmsted system, the construction of Franklin High School in 1912, and the building of the Mount Baker tunnel and Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge to Mercer Island in 1940. Today this middle-to-upper income neighborhood remains predominantly residential, is home to an ethnically diverse population, and retains much of its planned character.
 
Appearance
Built in 1909, this Craftsman-influenced, Arts & Crafts style, single-family dwelling is oriented to Thirty-Eighth Avenue South on a flat site 4’ above street level. This 1024 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 34’ by 26’, with a 13’ by 9’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard and stucco (half story) clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the front gable roof. Broad, open gables and eaves with exposed rafters, purlins, decorative brackets and decoratively cut bargeboards define the roofline. Wood sash 1:1 double hung windows provide day lighting. A prominent transom extends over the triple grouping of first story front facade windows. A short flight of stairs with decorative cheek walls leads to the front entrance. Wood posts support the gable roof front porch. A brick chimney services the building. The upper story stucco and lower story clapboard, decorative bargeboards and windows set this building apart as an important stylistic example within the neighborhood.

Detail for 3604 38th AVE / Parcel ID 5700003125 / 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):
Integrity
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Slight
Changes to Plan: 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.
City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."

Photo collection for 3604 38th AVE / Parcel ID 5700003125 / Inv #


Photo taken Nov 05, 2003

Photo taken
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