Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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Style: |
Queen Anne - Cottage |
Neighborhood: |
Central Area |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1895 |
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Significance |
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This is a interesting example of vernacular Queen Anne cottage architecture with some spindlework detailing. The structure’s design integrity has been somewhat compromised by alterations at the west and east ends.
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 structure appears to have been owned by Mary D. Merz in 1939. The current owner believes that the house was first acquired by a member of the Merz family about 1902, and that this early owner was an African American tinworker (although African American Seattleites lived throughout the city in the late 1800s, the E. Madison Street area had become a popular neighborhood among African Americans purchasing home sites at the the turn of the century).
The current owner, Thomas L. Samuelsen, Jr., has indicated that he acquired the house in 1973 or 1974, although an interest in some portion of the expanded property (assembled from several separate parcels) appears to have been held by Terry Elizondo until 1986.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
King County GIS Center Property Report (http://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/property_report.aspx; accessed August 18, 2008)
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972) Washington State Archives
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Appearance |
This is a one-and-a-half story, drop siding clad, wood frame single-family residence on a concrete foundation, over a full basement.
The rectangular plan is capped by a gable roof with minimal overhangs and enclosed soffits. The roof appears to be clad with asphalt or composition shingles; however, a heavy layer of moss makes it difficult to precisely identify the material, leaving open the possibility that wood shingles were used when the roofing was last replaced.
The windows and doors are characterized by patterns and details customarily associated with a vernacular version of Queen Anne architecture.
This house was built in 1895 according to the King County Property Record Card (1901 according to the King County GIS Center Property Report accessed August 18, 2008). However, based on anecdotal evidence provided by a previous owner, the current owner believes the house was moved to the present site from downtown in 1883.
When the house was surveyed by the Assessor in 1937, the parcel on which it was located consisted of Lots 5 and 6, Block 17 of the Madison Street Addition . The parcel has since been enlarged to include Lots 1 through 8, stretching across almost the entire west half of the block on the east side of 26th Avenue N. between E. Mercer Street and E. Roy Street. Several structures, including houses, that once stood on the previously separate components of the assembled parcel have been removed.
The present owner has indicated that the west (street) side of the structure was originally the back of the house, and that the former front porch. located at the east end of the building, was enclosed in the 1970s. The shed roof dormer at the north elevation appears to be an addition. The original fenestration does not appear to have been altered, but some new windows were almost certainly installed when the back porch was enclosed and when the dormer was added. Most of the porch railing at the west end of the structure has been removed. Spindlework posts appear to have replaced the square posts that supported the hip roof over the front porch in 1937. The latticework under the porch deck has been replaced. An awning that projected for a time from the northern half of the porch has been removed. Very light wood filigree panels have been added between the porch posts to form a spindlework frieze.
The house is situated in a portion of the Central Area that extends north of Madison between 23rd Avenue East and Washington Park Arboretum (as the boundaries of the neighborhood are delineated by Folke Nyberg and Victor Steinbrueck in "Central Area: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources," Seattle: Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority, 1975). However, this part of the Central Area is also sometimes called East Capitol Hill, Miller Park or Madison-Miller.
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