| Historic Name: |
Polson, Olaf & Fleta, House |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Prairie Style |
Neighborhood: |
Queen Anne |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1925 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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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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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This house was designed in 1925 by Andrew Willatsen, a prominent Seattle architect, and was built by Chris Iverson, a local builder. It bears considerable resemblance to a nearby George Hager house (303 West Prospect Street), done in 1912 when Willatzen was in a partnership with Barry Byrne.
The clients were Olaf H. and Fleta Polson, who lived here until at least 1948. Polson was president of the Polson Implement Company and secretary of Polson Realty. These companies had been established by his father, Perry Polson, who built a home at 103 Highland Drive that remains in the family today. Perry's father Olaf came from Sweden in 1868, settling in Iowa before coming to Whatcom County. He became a prominent farmer in La Conner and his two sons, Perry and John, established a hardware store there. Perry then moved on to Seattle to establish the Polson Implement Company, selling equipment to miners leaving for the Klondike, as well as farm equipment. Olaf Polson appears to have run the companies through at least the 1940s. In the 1940s the house was purchased by Morgan Boyle, a Boeing inspector, and his wife Joyce, who lived here until the 1980s.
Willatsen came to the United States from Germany in 1900, working first as a carpenter. In about 1902 he began work at Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio, where he remained intermittently until 1907. This was the studio’s most creative period, and he had the opportunity to work on such well-known buildings as the Darwin Martin house in Buffalo and the Larkin Building. In 1907 he moved to Spokane, and the following year came to Seattle as a representative of Cutter and Malmgren to supervise construction of the Seattle Golf Club. In 1909 he formed a partnership with Barry Byrne. They completed the Northwest’s most prominent Prairie style works, including the Handschy House, a designated landmark on Queen Anne. The partnership dissolved in 1913, and Willatsen then designed the J. C. Black House (demolished 2004) on Queen Anne. He remained in practice until 1959, designing eclectic houses and commercial buildings as well as those such as this one that show the Prairie influence.
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| Appearance |
| This simple hipped-roof house has a shallow ell form, with a hipped roof sheltering the entry at the junction of the wing and the main volume of the house; the roof is supported by a single column clad with clapboard. The Prairie influence is evident in the deep boxed eaves, the shallowness of the hipped roof, and the strong horizontal lines of the cladding. The lower portion is clad with wide clapboard, with stucco above a belt course. The double hung leaded-glass windows have a subtle geometric design typical of the Prairie style. A group of three windows is on the first floor next to the porch; the end of the wing has a single similar window. Those on the second floor are arranged in pairs. A square one-story bay with flat roof is on the west elevation. The house has been altered slightly by the replacement of a garage and deck on the east elevation; the garage's location on a downslope reduces its impact on the house's design. New oak French doors open to the deck, and a picture window has been added. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Stucco, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
L-Shape |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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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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Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed. Shaping Seattle Architecture, A Historical Guide to the Architects. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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