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Summary for 1743 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 359250-0115 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: Common Name: 46 MacDonald Residence
Style: Arts & Crafts - Craftsman Neighborhood: Montlake
Built By: Year Built: 1911
 
Significance
This residence is an example of the Craftsman style. Built in 1911, it is associated with the early era development in the Montlake neighborhood.  The entry porch has been altered, otherwise it remains largely 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 one-and-one-half story Craftsman bungalow is rectangular in plan with clapboard siding and a low, side-gabled roof. The roof has deep eaves, wide bargeboards, knee braces and half-timbering in the gable ends. A raised, recessed porch at the north end of the main facade is covered by a gabled roof supported by square columns atop clapboard-clad piers. The balustrade is newer, wrought-iron. The porch has been altered to create an approach from the south which bumps out in front of the front facade and has wood steps and a wrought-iron railing. The entry door faces north.  Typical windows are groupings of double-hung wood frame, some with divided uppers, and wood frame casements. There is a hip roofed hanging box bay on the south facade, and a similar box bay on the north facade, adjacent to a covered, raised side porch to the rear. The site is gently sloping with low shrubs and a huge Evergreen tree that obscures views to the front facade. 

Detail for 1743 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 359250-0115 / Inv # 0

Status:
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Wood - Clapboard 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: Slight
Changes to Interior: Unknown
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Other: Slight
Changes to Windows: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
King County Assessor Property Characteristics Report, database at http://www5.metrokc.gov/ --parcel locator

Photo collection for 1743 26TH AVE / Parcel ID 359250-0115 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Dec 31, 2014

Photo taken Dec 31, 2014

Photo taken Jan 01, 1900
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