| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
McGovern Residence |
| Style: |
Colonial, Vernacular |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1922 |
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| Significance |
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This one-and-half story bungalow was constructed in 1922. It is associated with 1920s-era development in the Montlake area. It retains its original features and character and is a contributing resource to the Montlake NRHP Historic District.
Montlake is generally described as extending from the Washington Park Arboretum west to Portage Bay/15th Avenue E., and from the Montlake Cut on the north to Interlaken Park. The area is a significant and cohesive collection of residential architecture typical of early 20th century Seattle and is eligible as a NRHP historic district under Criterion C. Construction occurred primarily between 1910 and 1940, with a variety of Craftsman and revival styles ranging from modest cottages and builder's houses to high-style architect-designed residences, impressive institutional buildings, and notable parks and natural features. There are few intrusions of newer buildings. In the early 1960s, construction of SR 520 and the unfinished R.H. Thomson Expressway bisected Montlake, but the neighborhood retains its basic integrity as a pre-World War II Seattle neighborhood.
Montlake was incorporated into the City of Seattle in 1891. Although the first plats (Union City 1st and 2nd additions) were filed by Harvey Pike in 1869-1871, development did not really begin until plats were filed by John Boyer (Interlaken, 1905) and H. S. Turner (1907). Montlake Park (north of SR 520) was platted in 1909 by the developers James Corner and Calvin and William Hagan. With the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition came a streetcar line on 24th Avenue E. and an impetus for development. In 1916, the Lake Washington Ship Canal was completed and the Montlake Bridge linked the neighborhood to the university area in 1925. A small commercial district grew along the car line.
The 1903 Olmsted Parks and Boulevards Plan of 1903 surrounded Montlake with parks. Montlake Boulevard (then call University Boulevard) connected Lake Washington Boulevard to the A-Y-P grounds. Washington Park, the eastern boundary, was acquired by the City in 1900 and developed as an arboretum in 1936-41. At the southern edge is steep, forested Interlaken Park and boulevard.
By 1915, the neighborhood had developed enough to require a temporary school building; the permanent structure opened in 1924.Soon afterwards came a playfield and shelter house (1933-36) and a library (1944, replaced 2006). Other noteworthy structures include the Seattle Yacht Club (1920), the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Center (1931), the Museum of History and Industry (1952) and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church (1962).
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| Appearance |
| This one-and-half story bungalow has an L-shaped gable -front-and-wing plan with clipped gable roof; cladding is clapboard with coursed shingle cladding in the gables. Some details exhibit the Colonial Revival influence. The full-width wood porch under the front gable has a dentil cornice at the eaves, supported by paired square posts with lattice and wood balustrade. The entry has an original panel door with fanlight and to the left are paired windows with five-over-one wood sashes; there is a narrow vertical vent in the front gable. Windows on the north elevation are original eight-over-one wood sashes and there is a brick chimney on the south elevation. It sits slightly above the street on a lot with low terraced slope with shrubs, lawn, and trees. |
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