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Summary for 1618 E CALHOUN ST E / Parcel ID 6788202280 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Montlake Field House Common Name:
Style: Tudor Neighborhood: Montlake
Built By: Year Built: 1935
 
Significance


This building was built along with the Montlake Playfield on the shores of Portage Bay between 1933 and 1936. Montlake mothers, pushed for the creation of the playfield and field house were built by WPA (Works Progress/Works Projects Administration) workers. (HistoryLink.org)

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).

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 brick-clad community center is in the Tudor Revival style, with a cruciform plan and a cross gabled roof with clipped gable ends. The gable ends project out slightly over the lower walls, and feature stucco half-timbering and decorative verge boards. The center of the gable ends extend down and the vertical members end in drop pendants below the scalloped lower edge of the horizontal beam across the bottom. On the north and south elevations, the gable ends have divided light casement windows centered between wooden louvers of the same size. The east gable end has two similar casement windows. The wooden entry doors are set in segmentally arched openings on each elevation. Windows are a combination of eight-light awning windows and 6/6 double-hung sash. Two new metal doors have been added to accommodate restroom entries. The center of the west elevation has a large exterior chimney.

Detail for 1618 E CALHOUN ST E / Parcel ID 6788202280 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Brick, Stucco Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Gable - Clipped Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition-Shingle
Building Type: Social - Clubhouse Plan: Cross/Cruciform
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: one
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Plan: Intact
Major Bibliographic References

Photo collection for 1618 E CALHOUN ST E / Parcel ID 6788202280 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Apr 01, 2009
App v2.0.1.0