| Historic Name: |
Singer Residence |
Common Name: |
46 Humphrey Residence |
| Style: |
Tudor - Cottage |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1929 |
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| Significance |
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This residence is an unusual example of a Cottage Tudor, or Cotswold, house. Built in 1929, it is associated with the late 1920s developmental era in the Montlake neighborhood. It remains remarkably intact and is acontributing resource to the Montlake NRHP Historic District.The home was owned by C. Allen & Ruth Singer from as early as 1948 through at least the 1950s.
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.
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| Appearance |
| This white brick-clad 1-1/2 story Storybook Tudor-style house has a rectangular plan and a steep cross-gable roof with clipped ends clad in asphalt shingles with rolled eaves to replicate thatching. The enclosed entry porch, at the center of the main (east) facade, has a steep gabled roof and an arched opening. The wood door has a tiny leaded window. The entry stoop and steps are concrete with brick sidewalls and wrought iron railings. The main facade features paired 6/1 leaded double-windows to the south of the entry, 4/1 windows of the same style to the north of the entry and an arched leaded casement in the gable end, all with wood frames and brick lintels and sills. A brick chimney pierces the eaves on the north facade. The south half of the site is raised with a rockery at the perimeter, dense shrubs and concrete steps and a walkway. A concrete retaining wall divides the raised side from the concrete driveway at grade leading to an attached garage with a paneled tilt up door. |
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