| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1918 |
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| Significance |
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Built in 1918, this building was designed by Seattle architect, Edward L. Merritt, and owned by J. Beardsley. E. Almquist was the contractor. J. Webb and Laura L. Kitchen owned the building by 1920. Mr. Kitchen constructed a retaining wall in 1920. In 1929, the Kitchen’s remodeled the building interior. The Kitchen’s remained in the house through 1931. Mr. Kitchen worked as the Northwest manager for the Allbestos Corporation. Wilmot T. and Inez Pritchard purchased the building in April of 1938. The Pritchard’s remained in the building through 1954. Mr. Pritchard was president of the Stetson-Ross Machine Company. By 1954, Kenneth G. and Agnes A. Sorenson owned and resided in the building. The Sorenson’s remained in the house through 1968.
Architect Edward L. Merritt (1881-?) practiced in Seattle from 1909 until 1938. He was associated with Jud Yoho, owner of the Craftsman Bungalow Company and publisher of Bungalow Magazine (ca. 1909-18). In 1917, Merritt took over the Craftsman Bungalow Company with Yoho as an associate. Yoho & Merritt published their last plan book of Craftsman bungalows in 1920 and published a plan book on Colonial homes in 1921. Yoho & Merritt designed Craftsman style bungalows in Wallingford, Green Lake, the University District, and the Northgate area.
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 1918, this Arts and Crafts style single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Thirty-Seventh Place South on a sloped site at street level. This 1598 square foot, one-and-one-half story house with a full daylight basement features an irregular plan, measuring approximately 52’ by 36’, with a 5’ by 7’ stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the clipped cross gable roof. Closed eaves and gable returns define the roofline. The entrance is off a small stoop on the side of the front facade under an extension of the main gable roofline. A prominent group of three windows consisting of 4:1, 10:1 and an arched window is located on the upper half story of the projecting gable on the side opposite the front entrance. The attached small garage appears to be original as well as the carriage doors and second story sunroom over the garage. Two central chimneys service this house. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Shingle |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable - Clipped |
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): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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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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Ore, Janet and Jud Yoho. (1997). “The Bungalow Craftsman and the Development of Seattle Suburbs,” in Shaping Communities and Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. Ed. by Hudgins & Crowley. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
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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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