| 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: |
1922 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1922 by the owner, Wells Gwinn, who listed his address on the permit application as 324 Lumber Exchange Building. The name of the designer is not indicated on the application.
It is not clear when the garage, which features a clipped gable roof similar to that at the house, was built. It was already in existence when the Assessor surveyed the property in 1937. It currently stands at the southwest corner of the property.
This structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of eclectic cottage styling combining characteristics of colonial revival and craftsman bungalow design in a manner typical of local practices in the years of Seattle’s second north end building boom.
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| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, clapboard clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a 3/4 basement. The moderate roof slope, the slender bargeboards, the enclosed soffits and cornice returns at the gable ends, and the barrel vaulted portico at the entry are typical elements of colonial revival design; however, the massing, the clipped gables, the informality of the elevations and the design of the windows are all more suggestive of craftsman bungalow work.
Although the west end (back) of the house cannot be viewed from the street, it appears a cross gable faces into the backyard, giving the house a “T” shaped ridgeline.
The entry door is flanked by sidelights and located at the north end of the east (front) elevation. The porch cover extends toward the street and features a clipped gable and prominent cornice returns. It is supported at each outside corners by a set of three wood posts laced together with light wood filigree. The posts extend from porch surface to the base of the wood entablature from which the wood barrel vault of the porch soffit springs.
The front room of the house is illuminated by a window assembly located in the wall to the south of the entry. This assembly consists of a central double-hung window (its upper sash divided in a 2 x 7 pattern over a larger undivided lower light) flanked by two fixed units, each divided in a 6 x 2 pattern.
A small dormer with a clipped gable roof is centered over the large window assembly in the east elevation. The dormer’s casement windows are each divided into four lights, three very small panes over a much larger light. They give the structure a distinctive craftsman flavor.
A stuccoed chimney with decorative relief figures is situated near the front (east) end of the south elevation. It is flanked by double-hung windows, each with an upper sash divided into six lights in a 2 x 3 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash. Two smaller but similarly configured windows are paired and centered immediately below the soffit of the partial hip main south-facing gable. A bay with a similar clipped gable projects into the side yard from near the middle of the south elevation. Centered in the south wall of the bay is a window group nearly identical to that in the east (street) elevation. A tall narrow arch top vent is centered over the window group. West of the bay, under the eave at the back end of the house, a new window has been installed. Two small rectangular windows at the bottom of the façade light the basement below.
Two small double-hung windows, each with an upper sash divided into six lights in a 2 x 3 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash, are paired and centered at the top of the north-facing gable. At the main level, a window group very similar to that in the east (street) elevation is located at the east end of the north elevation. The north face of a bay in the middle third of the north wall features a group of three windows at its east end, each with an upper sash divided into eight lights in a 2 x 4 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash. A similarly configured unit stands by itself at the west end of the bay, and another similar unit is located west of the bay near the back end of the house.
The top of the chimney has been modified with the addition of metal caps and, as noted above, at least one new window has been installed. A handrail has been attached to the front of the house at the entry stair. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stucco, Wood, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable - Clipped |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
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Changes to Plan: |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
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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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