| 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: |
1916 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1915-16. It was built by P. J. Hower, a carpenter who lived at 1924-1/2 1st Avenue, for owner Henry Brice, whose address is listed on the permit application as 4234 Densmore Ave. N. Brice is described as a “street contractor” or “grader” in various editions of Polk’s Seattle Directory; however, he seems to have worked regularly as a developer as well; he was involved with the construction of several residences on Wallingford Avenue N. in the years prior to the First World War.
The name of the designer of this particular structure is not recorded on the permit application.
Olive L. Cohoon and her husband, Travis C. Cohoon, acquired the property in 1919. Mr. Cohoon was a traveling salesman with the Pacific Coast Barber Supply Company. The prominent dormers were apparently added to the house when two attic bedrooms were made habitable in 1931. The work appears to have been done by Harry C. McBurnie, who lived next door at 3713 Wallingford Avenue N. It is not clear if Travis Cohoon was in residence at the time this work was completed. Although Cohoon is listed as the owner of the property on the building permit, a notation in a city directory suggests that Mr. Cohoon was living in Everett in 1930, and there is no listing for either Cohoon in 1931. On the other hand, Polk’s Seattle Directory indicates that Jerry Cohoon was living at the house in 1938.
The Cahoon family appears to have owned the house until the current owner, Paul B. Williams, acquired the property from Jerry V. Cohoon in 1999 (the fact that no money changed hands in this transaction suggests that the buyer and the seller were somehow related).
A garage is located in the rear yard at the southwest corner of the site. It is stylistically similar to the house and probably built about the same time; however, no mention of this structure is found in the public record. It is served by a shared drive running along the south side of the house
This structure is significant as an intact (if not particularly well-maintained) example of a craftsman bungalow with prominent paired gable at the front dormer built in the last years of Seattle’s first north end building boom. The lack of recent maintenance and remodeling has paradoxically preserved the integrity of the structure, which looks much as it did when last modified in 1931. This house is also significant as an example of the variety of structures built on Wallingford properties developed by Henry Brice.
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| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, shingle clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The moderate slope of the side gabled roof, the wide bargeboards supported by triangular knee braces, the unenclosed undersides of the roof overhangs, the exposed rafter tails (now partially hidden by added gutters), the detailing of the porch, and the use of typical bungalow windows (units featuring a small upper sash with divided lights over a larger undivided lower sash) all are characteristics of craftsman bungalow design.
A porch extends across the entire east elevation of the house where it occupies a notch carved out from under the main roof. The front door is located near the south end of the porch and is placed on axis with the entry stair. In the wall to the north of the entry is a group of three double-hung windows consisting of a large central unit flanked by two narrower units. The upper sash of each window is divided into five lights; a vertical muntin is located a few inches from each end of the sash, forming a single vertical light at each end of the sash, and two horizontal muntins span between the vertical muntins to form three additional horizontal lights.
The roof at the front of the house is supported by a group of three built-up wood posts at each of the two outside corners which, in turn, are borne by shingle clad, battered pedestals. Solid shingle clad rails extend from the east face of the house to the post supporting pedestals. The corner pedestal to the south and a large but lower pedestal nearer the middle of the elevation flank the top of the stair. A low railing, consisting of heavy timbers organized in a pattern similar to that established by the muntins in the upper sash of the front windows, stretches between the low pedestal and the corner pedestal to the north.
Paired gables at the front facing dormers replace the typical shed-roofed dormer more often associated with the craftsman bungalow style. A pair of double-hung windows is centered in each of the two gables.
The chimney is located near the front (east) end of the north elevation, which is somewhat difficult to see because of mature landscaping. At the main level, it is flanked by two small windows mounted high in the wall in typical bungalow manner. Larger double-hung windows flank the chimney shaft at the upper level. A much smaller third upper level window is located west of the gable centerline, its head aligned with the heads of the two double-hung units. At the western half of the north elevation, a gabled wing extends into the side yard. Three windows are ganged together and set in the middle of the wing’s north wall but are difficult to describe in detail because they are partially hidden by plantings.
At the south elevation, the heads of all but one of the main floor windows are aligned. Two double-hung windows, separated by a few feet, are located near the east end of the elevation. They share the size and configuration of the flanking windows at the front porch window assembly. A similar but undivided double-hung unit is mounted high in the wall near the middle of the elevation where it probably lights a stair landing. Another window of the same type is located at the west end of the façade. A smaller double-hung window is located a short distance east of the west end unit. A large double-hung window and a smaller single sash unit are located off axis in the gable above. Four small windows light the basement below.
The back (west) end of the structure is not visible from the street.
The front porch has been partially enclosed by the addition of a glass windscreen at its south end. In addition, the porch rail has been modified. A back porch that is supposed to have been located at the northwest corner of the structure has apparently been removed. Gutters have been added. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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