| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Queen Anne - Free Classic |
Neighborhood: |
Central Area |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1904 |
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| Significance |
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This is an unusual example of Queen Anne Free Classic architecture featuring a symmetrical facade, the design of which was driven by its intended use as a duplex. The structure’s design integrity has been somewhat compromised by extensive alterations to the cladding and trim work, an early rear addition, and minor changes to the windows.
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, the property appears to have been owned by H. M. Shaffer in 1938. It was acquired by Joseph E. Gray in 1951, by Earl E. Payne in 1958, and by Metropolitan Federal Savings & Loan in 1958. The current owners purchased the property from Craig O. Dawson in 1989.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
King County GIS Center Property Report (http://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/property_report.aspx; accessed July 12, 2008)
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972) Washington State Archives
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| Appearance |
This is a two story, clapboard and concrete asbestos shake clad, wood frame triplex on a concrete foundation, over a quarter basement.
The essentially rectangular plan, made slightly T-shaped by a nearly full width, single story addition at the rear, is capped by a hip roof with cross gables, having moderate to extensive overhangs and enclosed soffits.
The tall, slender, double-hung windows, many with multiple lights in the upper sash, and the half glazed doors are placed in a pattern customarily associated with Queen Anne design, though the slender casings are unusual for a structure built at the beginning of the 20th century. The crown detail at the head of each window opening, and the Tuscan columns at the front facing first and second story porches, give the structure its Free Classic flavor.
This structure appears to have been built as a duplex in 1904 and was apparently in that use when surveyed by the Assessor in 1937. The King County GIS Center Property Report (July 12, 2008) indicates that the structure now functions as a triplex. The units facing the street are addressed as 211 and 213 16th Avenue.
The King County Property Record Card suggests that a symmetrically placed, one story addition (with porch a small central porch) had been appended to the structure by 1937. It appears that the south-facing roof-top side gable, one of two similar symmetrically placed elements, has been removed, and the associated chimney has been altered. Simple wood railings have been added at the second story porches and at the two sets of entry stairs.
A few of the windows appear to have been replaced; the somewhat unusual double-hung units, featuring twelve horizontally oriented rectangular lights in the upper sash over an undivided lower sash, appear to be original. A wide, twelve-light attic window that was originally located in the center of the front facing gable has been removed.
The shingle siding that once clad the gables has been replaced by clapboard siding, and the clapboard siding that originally clad the body of this multi-family structure has been replaced or covered with concrete asbestos siding. |
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