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Summary for 2720 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001935 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Colonial - Dutch Colonial Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1912
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.
Built in 1912, this building was purchased by Peter A. and Irene V. O’Rolle in July of 1912. Mr. O’Rolle was president-manager of Rolle Barnes Company and later of DeLuxe Hoisery Company. Alterations were made to the building in 1919. By 1944, Donald R. Callison also lived in the house. By 1954 through 1958, Charles E. Gabler lived in the building. In April of 1969, M. C. Erickson purchased the building for $28,500. The building sold in October of 1972 for $34,000. 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 1912, this compact, Dutch Colonial Revival style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Thirty-Fourth Avenue South on a flat site 2’ above street level. This 1633 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a three-quarter daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 33’ by 53’, with a recessed front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the gambrel roof and shed roof dormers. Broad eave overhangs with exposed rafters and flush gables define the roofline. The recessed half story windows with prominent headers are unique within the neighborhood. Multiple-lite wood sash windows provide day lighting. A brick chimney services the building. The unique integration of a porch, particularly in a corner location, sets this building apart as a unique stylistic example. This building also exhibits a more low-pitched roof compared to other examples of this same style that tend to maximize the second story space. The broad overhanging open eaves wrapping the first story suggest an Arts & Crafts influence in pre-1937 alterations.

Detail for 2720 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001935 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Shingle Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Gambrel 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 Plan: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Windows: 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 2720 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001935 / Inv #


Photo taken Nov 06, 2003
App v2.0.1.0