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Summary for 6445 HAMPTON RD / Parcel ID 1102001274 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: Modern Neighborhood: Seward Park
Built By: Year Built: 1961
 
Significance

This house is significant due to its architectural style and intactness, as well as its occupancy history. The occupants’ professional association with businesses in the Rainier Valley reflects the valley’s historical role as a transportation and commercial corridor uniting the residential neighborhoods in South Seattle.

The residence is located in the Seward Park neighborhood at the southern end of South Seattle. The property was purchased in 1959 by the Sharman family. Construction on the house began in 1961 and was completed by January 1962. Dr. Edward J. and Dolores Scharman continued to live in the house through 1969, and Dolores Scharman remains in the house today. Edward worked as a dentist in Columbia City, just northwest of his house in Seward Park.

Substantial residential and commercial development in South Seattle and the Rainier Valley occurred when a transportation corridor connecting the Rainier Valley to downtown and Seattle’s industrial district was constructed along Rainier Avenue during the late nineteenth century. Development in the valley was facilitated by logging during the 1880s, the operation of the Rainier Valley Electric Railway in the 1890s, and the Jackson and Dearborn Street re-grades in the 1900s. Milling was the primary commercial industry during the last part of the nineteenth century although some agricultural activity existed. As residential development increased, Rainier Avenue gradually became the principal commercial corridor connecting the residential neighborhoods of South Seattle to downtown, the International District, and Seattle’s industrial districts. World War II brought additional building growth related to the wartime industry, as well as the influx of defense workers to nearby Boeing and the Duwamish shipyards. 

The Rainier Valley remains a crucial corridor uniting the neighborhoods of South Seattle and connecting them to downtown, Seattle’s industrial districts, and the International District.

 
Appearance
The lot for this single-family residence is located where Hampton Road South becomes South Oaklawn Place and was platted for Brighton Beach. Constructed in 1961, this Modern-style house faces eastward onto Hampton Road. It is one story with 3,400 square feet of living space. The house is set back from the road with a circular drive in front and a pool in back. Its irregular floor plan and poured concrete foundation support a platform-framed superstructure. Two smaller wings project from either side of the house’s rear. The principal roof is defined by a low-sloped side gable and has a wide eaves overhang with exposed beams in the gable ends. The rear wings have gabled roofs, and the entire roof system is covered by asphalt composition shingles. The eaves overhang is extended on the south end of the house, forming a carport. Fenestration is generally characterized by horizontal aluminum windows. The house is clad in vertical wood board siding with stacked flagstone detailing at the entryway and chimney. A fence of thin vertical wood posts encloses a small area of yard at the front of the house, between the entryway and carport. This house retains its Modern features. It also reflects the increased development in South Seattle during the 1950s and 1960s, and is, therefore, a character-defining house in the Seward Park neighborhood.

Detail for 6445 HAMPTON RD / Parcel ID 1102001274 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Wood Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Unknown
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Irregular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Interior: Unknown
Other: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
Dorpat, Paul, “101 The Railroad Avenue Elevated,” Seattle, Now and Then, Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1984.
Bagley, Clarence B. History of Seattle, Washington. Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1916.
Berner, Richard. Seattle 1921-1940: From Boom to Bust. Seattle: Charles Press, 1992.

Photo collection for 6445 HAMPTON RD / Parcel ID 1102001274 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010

Photo taken Jan 07, 2010
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