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Summary for 4301 15th AVE / Parcel ID 3679401035 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Other Neighborhood: Beacon Hill
Built By: Year Built: 1927
 
Significance
Built in 1927, the building was owned by Mary A. Schade and the National Bank of Commerce Trustees in 1938. The 1940 Polk Directory lists the building as vacant. By 1943, Eddie L. Brown occupied the building. By 1951 through 1968, Celeste E. Rascasi lived in the building. Beacon Hill is a long north-south tending ridge located southeast of downtown Seattle and stands 350 feet at its highest point. The hill’s steep topography deterred substantial Euro-American settlement through the early 1880s. Then, development of the area was stimulated by the introduction of streetcar lines in the 1890s, its proximity to Seattle’s main industrial area to the west, and the regrading of the hill’s north end in the early 1900s. Originally acquired by the City in 1898, Jefferson Park was integrated into Seattle’s Olmsted system of parks, and the Olmsted Brothers prepared a plan for the park in 1912. The first public golf course west of the Mississippi opened at Jefferson Park in 1915. Jefferson Park has exerted a profound positive influence on the development of the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Because of its proximity to the International District, Japanese and Chinese families moved to Beacon Hill starting in the 1920s. World War I and II stimulated a surge in housing development associated with wartime industry. The construction of Interstate 5 in the 1960s and Interstate 90 in the 1980s sliced through the neighborhoods and contributed to Beacon Hill’s relative isolation. Today, Beacon Hill is an ethnically diverse working class community, which has a mixed Asian, Chicano, African American, and Caucasian population.
 
Appearance
Built in 1927, this compact, Eclectic style office building stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Fifteenth Avenue South on a flat site above street level. This 516 square foot, single-story building with a full basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 18’ by 24’, with a 6’ by 2’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick-clad superstructure. A flat roof covers the building with clay tile on the shed roof extending from the front parapet. Wood sash leaded windows provide day lighting. A short flight of stairs leads to the front stoop. A projecting gable roof with decorative bargeboards shelters the stoop. A prominent gable end brick chimney services the building.

Detail for 4301 15th AVE / Parcel ID 3679401035 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Clay Tile
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one
Unit Theme(s):
Integrity
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Windows: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Beacon Hill Historic Context Statement."

Photo collection for 4301 15th AVE / Parcel ID 3679401035 / Inv #


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