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Summary for 823 24TH AVE / Parcel ID 0519000220 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Queen Anne, Queen Anne - Free Classic Neighborhood: Central Area
Built By: Year Built: 1902
 
Significance
The round turret with its conical roof make this otherwise simple house an interesting example of small scale Queen Anne – Free Classic design, although the structure’s design integrity has been somewhat compromised by the replacement of several windows and the entry door.

This is one of approximately 2,200 houses that are still extant out of more than 5,000 that were built by the end of 1906 in Seattle’s Central Area, Eastlake, First Hill, Leschi, Madison Park, Madrona, and North Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

A complete permit history, and a complete record of ownership and occupation have not yet been prepared for this property; however, it appears that Philip Jacobs owned the house from about 1923 until at least 1937. The structure was apparently acquired by Ernst Holmes in 1958, The current owners, Eric Downs and Kathryn Farina, bought the house from Samson and Etsehiwot Stefanos in 1994.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972) Washington State Archives

King County GIS Center Property Report (http://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/property_report.aspx; accessed July 29, 2008)


 
Appearance
This is a one-and-a-half story, clapboard and shingle clad wood frame single-family residence on a concrete foundation, over a full basement. The porch was initially on a post and pier foundation.

The turret, which is capped by a conical roof featuring an enclosed soffit with modillions, is a signature feature of the Queen Anne style. The steeply sloped main roof, the slightly projecting shingle clad triangles in the peaks of the two side gables, the pent enclosed gable at the front facing dormer, and the simple door and window surrounds are all elements customarily associated with Queen Anne design. The open soffits and exposed rafters at the main roof and dormer could be viewed as residual elements of the Stick style or an anticipation of the emerging Craftsman style.

Several of the windows appear to have been replaced. The house originally featured double-hung windows with upper and lower sashes of equal size and with upper sashes divided into multiple rectangular lights (a window type that spans the transition between the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles). Many of the windows now exhibit upper and lower sashes of unequal size with undivided upper sashes. The basement windows, including those at the porch, appear to date from at least the 1930s. The use of the main roof to cover the porch is a design strategy more often associated with the Shingle style.

The slender classical columns at the entry porch are raised on pedestals to the level of the simple porch railing and identify this as an example of the Free Classic variant of the Queen Anne style.

New railings have been added at the entry stair and the original porch railings may have been replaced in kind.

The house was built in 1902 (King County Property Record Card; the King County GIS Center Property Report, accessed July 29, 2008). The King County Property Record Card suggests that the house was remodeled in 1922, though the extend of the changes made at that time are not known.

Detail for 823 24TH AVE / Parcel ID 0519000220 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Hold
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Shingle, Wood, Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Gable, Other 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
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Slight
Changes to Windows: Moderate
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Interior: Unknown
Major Bibliographic References

Photo collection for 823 24TH AVE / Parcel ID 0519000220 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Oct 23, 2007
App v2.0.1.0