| Historic Name: |
Crowe, F. T. |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1910 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This house was noted in the city's 1979 historic resources survey; at that time the owner said that it had a skylit tunnel to the garage, the construction required 14,000 bricks, 1500 yards of plaster and 64 barrels of cement. It was designed in 1910 for F. T. Crowe by W. Marbury Somervell.
The house was also noted in the pictorial book Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast, Seattle , 1913, which described it as "a remarkably well constructed house of the English type…of brick and stucco with terra cotta coping." Particularly interesting is the comment that the interior woodwork was finished with white enamel, which may have lead to the comment that it was "sanitary in every way…with the most advanced methods of construction used throughout."
This house was designed about the time that the partnership between Somervell (1872-1939) and Joseph S. Coté (1874-?) ended. Somervell came to Seattle in 1903 to supervise construction of St. James Cathedral for the prominent New York firm of Heins & LaFarge. Born in Washington, D.C., he had studied architecture at Cornell University. Following completion of the cathedral, they quickly gained other commissions, including three libraries (Green Lake, West Seattle, and University, 1908-1910) and Providence Hospital (1907-1912). After the partnership ended, Somervell moved to Vancouver, B. C., but retained a local office. Later local commissions included additional libraries (Queen Anne, Columbia, and Yesler/Douglass-Truth, 1912-1915). He served in the Army during World War I and remained in Europe to work on restoration of damaged monuments. He later practiced in Los Angeles.
It is located just off of 14th Avenue East, known as Millionaires' Row, an “Avenue of Mansions” with the homes of many of Seattle's early business leaders. It is in Capitol Hill Divison 3, one of the original Capitol Hill plats of James A. Moore, who gave the area its name. In 1900 Moore, who had already developed other Seattle neighborhoods, purchased and began platting 160 acres, roughly between 11th and 20th avenues, from Roy Street north to Galer. Before selling lots for construction, he graded and paved the streets (eliminating the dust that plagued many sections), installed sidewalks, water mains and sewer lines, and planned for street lights and telephone poles. Lots went on sale in 1901, heavily promoted to attract local business leaders as residents. The response was immediate. The quality infrastructure, convenient transportation, schools and other amenities proved to be very popular and the area was largely developed, with sizable, attractive houses, within only a few years.
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| Appearance |
| This stucco-clad house is somewhat unusual in its form, with a side-gabled roof with double gables and a prominent two-story flat-roofed hexagonal bay on the west end of the main (south) façade. The entry, to the east, is through a red brick porch with a bracketed flat roof supported by two columns. Most windows are casements with six-light transoms; the hexagonal bay is surrounded with windows, forming sunrooms on the first and second floors. The casements in the large front gable end appear to have been replaced. The side elevations have double-hung and casement windows. The southwest corner has a large brick chimney, |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stucco |
Foundation(s): |
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| 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: |
two & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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Williams, Jacqueline B. The Hill with a Future: Seattle's Capitol Hill 1900-1946. Seattle: CPK Ink, 2001.
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Calvert, Frank. Homes and Gardens of the Pacific Coast. Vol. 1, Seattle. Beaux Arts Village: Beaux Arts Society Publishers, 1913.
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
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