| Historic Name: |
Jordan, Frank & Ada, House |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Tudor |
Neighborhood: |
Capitol Hill |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1913 |
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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 large house, imposingly sited, was designed for Frank & Ada Jordan in 1913. Jordan owned F. M. Jordan & Company, a real estate and loan firm. They hired the premier large-home architects of the era, Bebb & Mendel. It is a classic example of their work, with brick on the first story and Tudor-inspired upper stories. The house was purchased in1941 by Henry J. Emard, president of the Emard Packing Company.
This street is at the east edge of in Capitol Hill Division 5, one of the original Capitol Hill plats of James A. Moore, who gave the area its name. Because of the outstanding lake and mountain views, 22nd Avenue developed with many fine houses like this one. In 1900 Moore, who had already developed other Seattle neighborhoods, purchased and began platting 160 acres, roughly between 11th and 20th avenues, from Roy Street north to Galer. Before selling lots for construction, he graded and paved the streets (eliminating the dust that plagued many sections), installed sidewalks, water mains and sewer lines, and planned for street lights and telephone poles. Lots went on sale in 1901, heavily promoted to attract local business leaders as residents. The response was immediate. The quality infrastructure, convenient transportation, schools and other amenities proved to be very popular and the area was largely developed, with sizable, attractive houses, within only a few years.
Charles Bebb and Louis Mendel were the most prominent architects of their period, designing some of the city’s largest and finest homes, hotels and business buildings. Bebb (1856-1942) was educated in private schools in England and Switzerland, and studied civil engineering in London. After working for a period on railroad construction in South Africa, he became an engineer at an Illinois terra cotta company, where he developed commercial fireproofing materials. He served as construction superintendent for Chicago's Auditorium Building, designed by Adler and Sullivan. The firm sent him to Seattle to superintend construction of the Seattle Opera House, which was never completed due to the 1893 Financial Panic. Bebb returned to Seattle to work for the Denny Clay Company and opened an architectural practice in 1898. He worked for Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter superintending construction of the C. D. Stimson House on First Hill, which introduced him to prominent local business leaders. He was in partnership with Louis Mendel from 1901 until 1914, when he went into partnership with Carl Gould. Mendel (1867-1940) had come to the United States from Germany in 1882, working first in Cleveland and then working at various West Coast firms before becoming a draftsman for Bebb for 1899. They were partners from 1901 until 1914, Mendel practiced on his own, designing smaller projects. Some of the partnerships best known projects were the Hoge Building (1909-11) University Heights School (1902), the Walker-Ames house (1906-07).
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| Appearance |
| This large house (nearly 9,000 square feet) sits high above the street, with a rockery below. Cladding is clinker brick on the lower level and half-timbered stucco (dark gray) on the second story and gable ends. It has a side gabled form, with a prominent gabled bay at the south end. The gables have shaped bargeboards, and the gable ends and eaves are bracketed. The center entry is sheltered by a large porch with a balustrade on top; its flat roof forms a deck accessible from the second story. There is a gabled dormer in the northern half of the roof. Many of the windows have leaded art glass; a prominent bay window on the first story is obscured by vegetation. There is a detached garage on the alley, also in a Tudor style. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Stucco |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
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City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
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