Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
American Foursquare |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1923 |
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Significance |
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Built in 1923, this building was constructed after John E. and Clara F. Keefe purchased the property in June of 1922. M. D. Ford was the contractor. Mr. Keefe owned Keefe Hardware and Furniture Company. The Keefe’s remained in the building through 1958. Florence Keefe purchased the building in December of 1954.
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.
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Appearance |
Built in 1923, this well-proportioned, American Foursquare style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Mount Saint Helens Place South on a sloped site at street level. This 1368 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 28’ by 41’, with a 3’ by 6’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick veneer-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the hipped roof. Broad overhanging eaves with widely spaced decorative brackets define the roofline. Wood sash 8:1 paired and single windows provide day lighting. Triple windows in the first story consist of a large fixed sash with a multiple-lite transom flanked by two narrow 6:1 windows. Two columns support the hipped roof over the front stoop. Two brick chimneys service the building. |
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Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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Cladding(s): |
Brick |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
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No. of Stories: |
two |
Unit Theme(s): |
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Integrity |
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Major Bibliographic References |
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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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
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Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
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Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
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