| Historic Name: |
Swigart Residence |
Common Name: |
21 Simonds residence |
| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Montlake |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1921 |
| |
| Significance |
|
|
This residence is intact example of a Craftsman bungalow. Built in 1921, it is associated with the 1920s-era development in Montlake area and is a contributing resource to the Montlake NRHP Historic District. The earliest known owners, in 1928, were Thomas M. Swigart, a superviser at Skaggs Safeway Stores, and his wife, Myrtle. The home was owned by Helen R. Lunde and her daughter Helen from at least 1938 through 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 one-story shingle-clad bungalow is above the street on a sloped lot with a retaining wall, rockery hedge, shrubs and small trees. It is rectangular in plan and has a side-gable roof with wide eaves, exposed rafter tails, brackets and bargeboards. The gabled porch at the center of the primary south façade has brick piers and grouped square post supports and original wood door with leaded light. Picture windows with leaded light transoms are on each side of the porch. A gabled bay on the east elevation has a similar window flanked by casement sash. A brick chimney which pierces the eaves on the east gable wall is flanked by square leaded piano lights. A carport at the rear north alley leads to the basement garage below the northwest corner of the house. |
|
|
