| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Colonial, Ranch - Minimal Traditional, Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1948 |
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| Significance |
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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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This house was erected in 1947-48 and apparently replaced a two-story house wrecked in 1931 (accessory buildings erected on the property in 1916 and 1919 were probably also destroyed at that time). The present structure was designed and built by its initial owner, Harold. C. Anderson, whose address is listed as 4229 Bagley Avenue N. on the permit application. The owner’s agent (the individual who actually filed the permit application) was Victor Anderson, a builder active in the Wallingford neighborhood who designed, erected, and lived in the house at 4229 Bagley. Although it is very likely that the two Andersons were related, the precise nature of their relationship has not yet been established.
A garage was added to the property in 1949-50. The owner and builder was “C. H. Anderson,” according to the permit record. It is tempting to assume that C. H. Anderson an H. C. Anderson were the same individual (there is no listing for C. H. Anderson in Polk’s Seattle Directory for 1948-49); however, this is yet to be determined.
Until 2001, this home was still owned by members of the Anderson family. (According to the King County Assessor Property Characteristics Report for the parcel, “Anna V. Anderson c/o Victor H. Anderson” owned the house prior to July 30, 2001.)
This structure is significant as an intact and especially well-maintained example of post Second World War minimal traditional design that combines modernized Tudor cottage massing with colonial detailing. It is the only example of this particular combination of styles in the Wallingford neighborhood and represents a type that is probably more common in East Coast suburban communities than it is in the Seattle area. This house was described by Folke Nyberg and Victor Steinbrueck as a building of significance to the Wallingford community in "Wallingford: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
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| Appearance |
| This is a two-story, frame residence with brick veneer on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The veneer is relieved by vertical board siding in the upper portion of the gables and the design features wood construction and cladding at the entry portico, at the front bay window, at the dormers, and at a small shed-roofed element appended to the back of the house. Although the upper floor is expressed architecturally as a half-story (and the house is described in parts of the public record as a 1-1/2 story structure), the floor area of the upper level is almost identical to that of the lower level.
Although the slope of this building’s roof is not as steep as that of the archetypal Tudor cottage, its form is similar in many respects to the typical side-gabled roof with front facing cross gables associated with Tudor work. The south-facing side gable establishes the position of the long axis of the house; however, a ridgeline appears to connect the cross gables facing to the east and west, forming a “T” with the main ridge running north and south at the long axis. The minimal overhang of the building’s roof and the simple design of the cornice and fascia are also reminiscent of the Tudor cottage style.
The south elevation faces N. 41st Street. Its symmetrical organization, the use of regularly divided double-hung windows, and the subtle cornice returns are design elements more associated with colonial styling rather than the Tudor styling suggested by the structure’s massing and masonry veneer. Two 6:9 double-hung windows (i.e., two double-hung units, each with six lights in the upper sash, organized in a 2 x 3 pattern, over a larger lower sash with nine lights in a 3 x 3 pattern) are ganged together and centered in the brick veneer of the gable. The entire face of the gable above the line established by the heads of these two windows is clad with vertical wood siding. A small inward acting hopper type window, divided in a 3 x 2 pattern, is placed to either side near the outside edge of the façade, its sill aligned with the sills of the two larger windows in the center of the gable. At the main level, two large 8:12 double-hung windows lighting the living room are symmetrically placed, one to each side of the centerline of the elevation. The distance between these two units is somewhat greater than the distance from either unit to the edge of the elevation.
The main entry is located in a notch just slightly off center to the north at the east elevation. The entry door is flanked by full-height glass block sidelights. A gabled roof projects a few feet toward the street from the face of the building’s east façade to protect the entry porch. Although the roof is steeper than would be typical of a classical pediment, the detailing of the gable end is suggestive of classical forms and organization. A wood entablature stretches across the base of the gable end and along the two eaves of the projection. It is supported at each of the two outside corners by a pair of square built-up wood columns. Each column is fitted with a simple capitals and base. The columns bear on the low brick sidewalls that flank the entry stair.
Centered in the section of wall to the north of the entry is a hip-roofed bay window. The sides of the bay are canted so that the outside face of each of the sidewalls forms a 135 degree angle with the main façade of the house and with the bay’s central component. The bay appears to be built as a single unit. A 6:9 double-hung window forms the central component. Heavy corner mullions separate the central component from the two side units. Each of the latter is a 4:6 double-hung unit equal in height to the central component and divided into lights of equal size. The wall extending to grade from the base of the windows is clad with wood siding.
A very large fixed sash wood window in centered in the wall to the south of the entry. Muntins divide this window into twenty identical rectangular lights in a pattern four lights tall and five lights wide (4 x 5).
A gable-roofed dormer clad with vertical wood siding sits on the east-facing slope of the main roof. It is centered over the large fixed window at the main level of the east elevation and features a fixed window divided into nine lights in a 3 x 3 pattern.
A wide street-facing cross gable rises above the northernmost three-fifths of the east façade. A group of three 6:9 double-hung windows are ganged together and centered in the brick veneer of the gable. As at the south elevation, the entire face of the gable above the line established by the heads of the windows is clad with vertical wood siding.
The north elevation is difficult to see from the street. A shed roofed dormer clad with vertical wood siding appears centered in the north facing slope of the roof connecting the two cross gables at the east and west elevations. A 6:6 double-hung unit is centered in the face of the dormer. At the main level are three double-hung windows. The largest is a 8:12 unit near the front (east) end of the elevation. A small 6:6 unit is located at the opposite end of the wall. A 6:6 unit of intermediate size is located between the other two units.
The west elevation is the back of the house. The upper level of the west-facing gable (the west elevation of a wing projecting to the west from the north end of the west façade) is nearly identical to that of the structure’s south elevation. At the main level, however, a shed roofed wood clad structure is appended to the house. It is not clear if this is an addition to the building or a component of the original scheme; if an addition, it was probably added early in the life of the house. In any case, it is difficult determine extent or configuration of this one-story appendage from the street. The south wall of the larger westward projecting wing is just wide enough to allow for a door at the main level featuring six lights in a 3 x 2 pattern in its upper portion. South of the gabled wing, the west elevation does not appear to have any window or door openings. A chimney serving what appears to be the west end of the living room is centered in this portion of the west façade and interrupts the eave.
A two car, brick-veneered garage opens to 41st Street at the southwest corner of the property. The garage gable is entirely clad with vertical wood siding. A double hung window, consisting of a single row of four lights in the upper sash over two rows of four lights in the lower sash, is centered in the gable.
A nearly flat patio cover appears to have been added at the back (west side) of the structure. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Vertical - Boards, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable, Shed |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
L-Shape |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
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| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
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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