| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1912 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1912. Edward L. Merritt acquired the building permit for his firm, Craftsman Bungalow Company, which owned the property according to the permit application. Although the builder and the architect are not listed on the permit, these roles were almost certainly filled by the firm, which under the leadership of Merritt and his colleague, Jud Yoho, undertook many such projects in Wallingford and elsewhere in Seattle.
C. W. Whitney added a one-story garage to the property for owner John P. Cronin in 1914. Cronin sold groceries and meats from a shop at 3940 Wallingford Avenue N. George H. Wright apparently expanded the garage for the same owner in 1916. The garage appears to have been replaced in 1937 by Alfred B. Small, described as a painter in city directories, for a later owner, Frank D. French, a longshoreman.
This structure is significant as an intact and fairly well maintained craftsman bungalow designed by the Craftsman Bungalow Company. It demonstrates the degree to which Asian architecture influenced the design of houses built in this style. Perhaps of even more significance, however, is the fact that the Craftsman Bungalow Company was the owner of the property on which this house was built, suggesting that the firm was either acting as a developer of speculative housing or selling a package to its clients which included the land and a house built from stock or custom plans.
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| Appearance |
| This is a one story, shingle-clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a half basement. The low slope of the roof, the wide bargeboards supported by triangular timber knee braces, the intentionally rusticated texture of the prominent brick chimney, the window muntin configuration, and the detailing of the porch all identify the structure as a craftsman bungalow.
The house appears to be a square, side-gabled structure from the east and northeast. However, the rectangular footprint of the structure is much deeper than it is wide and, for this reason, a less apparent cross gable faces to the west at the back end of the structure. The front (east) facing slope of the main roof is broken into two separate sloping surfaces. The shallower portion of the roof is the part that extends over the front porch, which stretches across the entire east end of the house. A front-facing gable extends over the middle 85% of the porch, its peak marking a ridge perpendicular to that of the main roof and its overhang projecting a short distance farther toward Corliss Avenue N. than the eave of the main roof. The ridges of the roofs flare up at each of the four gables, giving the structure a somewhat Asian appearance.
The porch roof gable is supported at each end by two widely space wood posts that bear on the solid, shingle-clad portions of the porch rails near the corners of the porch These rails are interrupted by bench-like elements either side of the entry stairs, each supported by a scroll-cut slab of wood at the quarter points. The porch rail cap detail stretches around the house, becoming the sill at many of the windows it encounters.
The entry door is placed on axis with the entry stairs and the front facing gable. Windows are situated either side of the front door, each a double-hung unit with an upper sash divided into ten lights arranged in a 2 x 5 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash.
The main ridge of the house runs north and south. At the north elevation, the main gable extends over three-quarters of the façade. There is no upper floor and no attic window. At the main level, a gabled bay extends towards N. 41st street from the western third of the portion of the elevation protected by the gable. The west-facing slope of the bay roof is continuous with the west-facing slope of the main roof. A double-hung window with eight lights in the upper sash is centered in the face of the bay. To the east of the bay, on axis with the peak of the main roof, is a pair of large double-hung windows. Each unit has an upper sash divided in a 3 x 4 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash. At the east end of the façade, a chimney, laid up with brick intentionally turned to give the masonry an unkempt rustic appearance, is flanked either side by fixed, six-light windows.
To the west of the gabled bay, another six light window is placed under the eave of the structure’s west wing. West of this window is another large double-hung unit configured to match one of the large paired windows on axis with the main ridge to the east.
A shed-roofed bay projects into the side yard from a point near the center of the south elevation. The bay appears to be supported by two heavy brackets at its base and features a group of four single sash wood windows. The smaller upper portion of each sash is divided into nine small lights in a 3 x 3 pattern; the much larger lower portion consists of one tall single light. To the west of the bay is a pair of small double-hung windows; to the east is a single fixed window divided into 27 lights in a 3 x 9 pattern. A large window at the west end of the elevation appears to light an enclosed space that was once the back porch of the house. At the west elevation, a single door allows access to this same space. A single double hung window is located near the center of the gabled west elevation.
Chimney pots appear to have been added to the top of the chimney and the beautifully curved and capped shingle-clad sidewalls that once framed the entry stair have been removed and the stairs themselves have been rebuilt. Other changes have been described above. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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