Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
Eck Residence |
Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1920 |
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Significance |
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This 1-1/2 story bungalow was built in 1920 in the Union City Addition Plat. It has been altered with a porch addition and new window sash that have significantly altered the building's original character, and it is not a contributing resource to the Montlake 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).
Major Bibliographic References:
Becker, Paula. Seattle Neighborhoods: Montlake--Thumbnail History. HistoryLink File # 10170, accessed 12/2/2013.
Gould, James W. Montlake History. http://www.scn.org/neighbors/montlake/mcc_history.Jim_Gould.html
Smith, Eugene. Montlake: An Urban Eden, A History of the Montlake Community in Seattle. La Grande OR: Oak Street Press, 2004.
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Appearance |
This 1-1/2 story Craftsman bungalow is reectangular in plan with a clipped side-gable roof and coursed shingle cladding. The roof has shallow eaves with knee brackets and bargeboards and two small clipped-gable dormers on the front, west elevation. The projecting gabled porch at the center of the symmetrical façade has wood piers and posts with a newer wood stair and balustrade projecting to the north; this replaces the original stair that projected to the south. The door is wood panel. Newer four-part vertical casement windows flank the entry porch; the original were horizontal sash window groupings. Windows on the side elevations are similar, with an additional small garden window projecting from the north side and non-original horizontal band of small square windows above this. A brick chimney pierces the eave on the south elevation. The small flat lot is landscaped with low shrubs, perennials and groundcovers; a large evergreen is on the south side and a large deciduous tree is on the front parking strip. A concrete driveway on the north side leads to a small gabled garage with shingle cladding and hinged panel doors. |
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