Seattle Historical Sites

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Historic Name: Common Name: 36 Trower Residence Style: Arts & Crafts - Craftsman Neighborhood: Montlake Built By: Year Built: 1912   Significance The earliest known owners of this house, from 1928  through 1948,  were Clarence B. Hooker, a marine engineer, and his wife, Clara. The home was owned by a Boeing engineer,  Leonard J. Wyngarden, in 1958. 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). 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 Polk Directory of Seattle, 1938-1958. Smith, Eugene. Montlake: An Urban Eden, A History of the Montlake Community in Seattle. La Grande OR: Oak Street Press, 2004.       Appearance This 1-1/2 story shingle-clad house is difficult to see from the street. It sits on the south end of the block on a steep sloping wooded lot on the north side of the 22nd Ave E stairs connecting E Howe St with E Blaine St. Only the roof is visible from the front of the house on E Howe St where the sloping front yard has lawn and stairs descending steeply on the south side to the entry below. The rear west elevation has a daylight basement below two stories with a full façade recessed porch above the basement level; it has paired square posts and wood balustrade. A prominent hanging gabled bay above this has bargeboards and brackets and grouped plain casements with small plan transoms above. The rear west elevation appears to have been altered with the expansion of the attic story and addition of the porch and the gable bay. A double garage with original folding panel doors with in-filled lights in the upper half and wood fence on the roof is at the street level on E Blaine St.

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

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Photo taken Jan 31, 2015 Photo taken Dec 31, 2014