| Historic Name: |
Porter Residence |
Common Name: |
37 Beitel Residence |
| Style: |
Colonial - Dutch Colonial |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1918 |
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| Significance |
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This residence has been altered with a prominent two-story addition on the south side and it is not a contributing resource to the Montlake Historic District. The earliest known owners, in 1928, were Charles J. Porter, the president of Porter Furniture Company, and his wife, Lillian. LaRoy H. Geil, (Royal Drug Co.), and his wife, Mabel owned the house in 1938. It was owned from 1948 through 1958 by William B. Hall, an accountant, and his wife, Mildred.
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.
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| Appearance |
| This residence includes an original two-story Dutch Colonial Revival style house with a large two-story addition in a different style attached to the south end. It sits above the street on a large lot with a brick clad retaining wall along the front sidewalk; a privacy fence is on top of the wall on the south end of the lot. The north end has central brick entry stairs, groundcovers, shrubs and trees in the front yard of the original section of the house. This section has a side-gambrel roof, clapboard cladding and symmetrical façade with central entry and full-width shed dormer. The pedimented entry has a wood panel door with small lights in the top and is flanked by grouped windows of 6/6 wood sash with 4/4 sash. The dormer has paired 6/6 wood sash windows. A brick chimney is on the south gable wall and the addition is attached to this wall east of the chimney. The two-story clapboard-clad addition has a contemporary vernacular style configured as three vertical bays with shed roofs, large window walls in the central bay and smaller window sash in the side bays. |
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