| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman, Queen Anne |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1910 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected 1910. It was designed and built by applicant Joseph Parker (1718 3rd N.) for the owner, Henry Brice, whose address is listed as 4234 Densmore Avenue N. on the permit application. Brice and Parker are associated with the construction of several houses in this area of Wallingford and appear to have worked together as a development team.
There is no evidence of a garage ever having been built at this site; the current owner parks in the drive along the north side of the building.
When the Assessor surveyed the property in 1937, Henrietta Miller (the widow of Jacob Miller) had owned the property since at least 1928, although Polk’s Seattle Directory suggests that she lived at 4305 Densmore for at least part of that time. In 1938, Charles A. Chapel was living at the Woodlawn address. Later owners included Henry Schwarble starting in 1941 and Wilson E. Noble beginning in 1954. Bella G, Mathis appear to have acquired the house in 1959 and converted the structure to a duplex in 1962-64. Garold E. and Nancy Jang appear to have purchased the structure in 1969 but do not appear to have lived at the site. The current owner acquired the property from Jonathan Hanauer in 1995.
Although the use has changed from a single family residence to a duplex, this structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of a residential building incorporating elements of late Queen Anne era housing and details typical of the emerging craftsman style. This is not unusual for structures that, like this house, were built in the early years of Seattle’s first north end building boom.
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| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, clapboard, shingle and stucco clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. The relatively steep roof and the cross gables formed by the wall dormers at the north and south elevations are elements of late Queen Anne design, as is the diamond pattern in the glazing found in the upper sash of several of the first floor windows. The wide bargeboards supported by triangular timber knee braces, the unenclosed soffits and exposed rafter tails, and the detailing of the porch all indicate am awareness of emerging craftsman sensibilities.
The prominent gable formed by the steeply pitched roof is the dominant feature of the structure’s west (front) elevation. Two double-hung windows are paired and center in the gable. Each consists of an undivided upper sash over a nearly identical lower sash. The head casing of the pair stretches across the façade, forming a trim band that separates the stucco and half timbering of the gable above from the shingle siding below. Diamond shaped windows are tucked under the roof overhang either side of the central pair.
Two small gable roofs, pitched and detailed to match the roof of the main volume of the structure, are located at either end of the facade at the first floor level. The two small gables feature an upper triangle finished with stucco and half timbering. A horizontal trim band in each of the small gables separates the stucco in the peak from the shingles at the base of the gable. They resemble the corresponding element in the man gable.
The smaller gable at the north end of the west façade marks the location of the entry. The entry porch is located in a notch at this end of the elevation. It projects a short distance toward the street. A built-up wood pier supporting the northwest corner of the house stands on a low porch rail extending along the north side of the porch notch. At the southwest corner of the porch, an identical pier stands on a short section of rail extending from the face of the house. The back of this pier is engaged with the west face of the house. The entry steps are placed on axis with the entry gable; however, the front door, in the wall opposite the steps, is placed off axis to the south. A window is situated high in the wall to the north of the door.
A built up horizontal trim element visually functions as a lintel at the open sides of the porch notch. At the front of the house, this element forms the base of the entry gable but also extends around the house, acting as a head casing at all of the visible first floor windows, and as a frieze at the eaves associated with each of the first floor bays. In addition, this trim element separates the shingle siding above first floor window level from the bevel siding covering the lowest third of the structure.
At the opposite end of the west elevation a corner window bay balances the porch notch. Unlike the porch, this element does project a foot of two from the faces of both the west and south elevations. It features a single large double-hung units centered in its west-facing and south-facing facades; each of these windows consists of a small upper sash divided by leading into numerous small triangular lights over a large undivided lower sash. A window assembly configured to appear as a narrow double hung unit flanked by two even narrower double hung units is located in the section of wall between the front porch and front window bay. Although these windows appear to be operable, they are, in fact, fixed units. It is not clear if this window assembly replaces an original set of operable units or is simply an addition to the façade.
A wall dormer is more or less centered in the south elevation of the house. Two double hung windows, each with equally sized, undivided upper and lower sash are centered in the dormer’s face. The head casing stretches across the face of the dormer and is detailed to resemble the extended porch lintel element that wraps the house below. The half timbering in the stucco above the trim band is organized in a pattern similar t that in the front gable. At the first floor level, the corner window bay at the southwest corner of the house established the western limit of the façade. A larger shed roofed bay projects into the side yard a few feet off center to the east. Four slender double-hung windows, equal in height to the large corner units, are ganged together and center in the south wall of the bay. The top sash of these windows feature small leaded panes arranged in a diamond pattern; the lower sash are much larger and undivided. A single tall double-hung unit is located in the center of the wall east of the shed-roofed bay. The head casing for all of these first floor windows is the extension of the porch lintel wrapping the house. Three small windows are distributed across the base of the façade to light the basement below.
Another wall dormer is more or less centered in the north façade; however, the single window lighting the upper floor is located east of the dormer’s centerline. This window is much smaller than the corner bay units at the front of the house, but is similarly configured with a diamond pattern in the glazing of the upper sash. At the base of the dormer, to the west of its centerline at the half level between the first and second floors, is an undivided double-hung window with sash of equal size. This window partially interrupts the porch lintel extension. A door is located below this window at the half level between the first floor and the basement. Somewhat to the east, a single double hung window is placed so its head casing is continuous with the extension of the porch lintel associated with the entry porch at the west end of the north facade. This extended trim element also functions as a lintel for the back porch at the northeast corner of the structure. A wood column supports the northeast corner of the house; a diagonally oriented wood lath screen fills the north-facing opening of the back porch notch.
The back (east) end of the house cannot be seen from the street.
Although the structure presently functions as a duplex, there is little evidence of the change from single family to multi-family use at the exterior of the structure. It appears that one wood window assembly may have been replaced or added at the middle of the front elevation. The entry stairs appear to have been altered or replaced. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Shingle, Stucco, Wood, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable, Shed |
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 Plan: |
Slight |
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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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