| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
03 Oppermann Residence |
| Style: |
Vernacular |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1915 |
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| Significance |
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This front gable, two-story residence, located in the Montlake Park Addition, was built in 1915 in the Craftsman style. It originally featured wide barge boards and knee braces. The lower floor was clad with clapboard siding the upper floor was clad in stucco. A prominent covered entry at the east end of the front facade with a flat roof supported by tall, wide, battered brick piers that extended above the porch roof with wood railings in between to create a roof deck. A wide concrete walk and steps with lower battered brick piers and wood railings between led to the porch. The upper floor featured a group of four, six-over-one double hung windows with wide wood frames. The house has been significantly altered. The original, prominent porch has been replaced with a gable-front enclosed porch and a large, newer picture window has been installed to the west of the new porch. The cladding has been replaced with clapboard throughout; wood window trim and knee braces have been removed. As a result of these changes, the house has lost its historic integrity and is not a contributing resource to the Montlake NRHP Historic District. rvnMontlake 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.
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| Appearance |
| This two-story, front gable residence is clad in clapboard siding. It has an enclosed gable-front porch, concrete steps and stoop with wrought iron railings. The entry door is paneled with three narrow windows in the top half. A small rectangular window is located to the east of the entry door. To the west of the entry is a large, newer picture window. Four double-hung six-over-one windows are located in the gable end on the second floor; a curved, wrought iron Juliette balcony is attached to one of the windows. A brick chimney pierces the eaves on the east facade, behind which is a hanging box bay. A concrete drive leads to a gable front detached garage in the rear on the east side of the site. |
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