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Summary for 2042 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 871210-0360 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Common Name: 41 Phillips Residence
Style: Tudor Neighborhood: Montlake
Built By: Year Built: 1931
 
Significance
This residence is a good and intact example of the Tudor style. Built in 1931, it is associated with the 1930s developmental era in the Montlake neighborhood. It remains remarkably intact 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), and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church (1962).

Major Bibliographic References:

King County Tax Assessor Records, 1937-2014.  

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.

 
Appearance
This 1 ½ story Tudor-style residence has a gable-front and wing form, a composition roof with eave returns, and red brick cladding with decorative blond brick accents at the corners, window and door surrounds and chimney. The front (west-facing) facade features 3-part wood frame picture windows with fixed centers and double-hung sides and a single wood-frame double hung window in the gable end. The enclosed entry in the center is tucked beneath a lower roof that intersects with the front gable and hipped roof dormer with shingle siding and a pair of double-hung wood windows above. The door is wood with a small rectangular window.  A tall brick chimney pierces the eaves on the south facade.  The house sits high above the street on a raised site with a rockery separating the planted area from the driveway leading to an attached garage at grade. Concrete steps with a metal railing lead cut diagonally across rockery, leading to the raised lawn, shrubs and entry.

Detail for 2042 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 871210-0360 / Inv # 0

Status:
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Gable Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Rectangular
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one & ½
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Interior: Unknown
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Windows: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
King County Assessor Property Characteristics Report, database at http://www5.metrokc.gov/ --parcel locator

Photo collection for 2042 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 871210-0360 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Dec 01, 2014

Photo taken Jan 01, 1900
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