Seattle Historical Sites

In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places.

In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.

This Tudor Revival style single-family residence is in the Uptown neighborhood. Building permit 294195 was issued in 1930 to construct the building. The estimated cost was $3,500. Permit 477415 issued in 1959 was to replace existing doors and windows; the construction value was estimated at $200. In 1962 furnace work was done and a gas furnace installed in 1964.

Polk directories listed Louis and Ragna (Regna) Ellingson in 1931 as the first residents. The couple moved to the house from 1119 Fifth Avenue N. Louis worked as a trainman with the Municipal Street Railway System. The Ellingsons were listed through 1944. From 1948 through 1964, Byron P. Walker was listed as the resident. In 1965, Eliza M. Walker was listed as the resident instead of Byron. Eliza remained through 1970. In 1971 through 1975, Gail B. Walker was listed as the resident.

The 1930 census listed Louis Ellingson has born ca. 1884 in Norway and immigrated in 1901. Regna was born ca. 1892 in Minnesota to Norwegian parents. The couple had three children: Mildred I (born ca. 1915), Karen (born ca. 1918), and Lorraine (born ca. 1922). The family moved to Seattle from Minnesota between 1918 and 1922. John Ellingson (born ca. 1890), Louis’s brother, was also listed as living with the family. He worked as a cod fish fisherman. Louis’s other brother, Ellingh, also born ca. 1904 in Norway, lived with the family and worked as a laborer at a lumber mill.

The 1930 census listed Byron Walker as born ca. 1875 in Illinois. At the time he lived at 1342 E 62^nd Street in Seattle and owned the house. He worked as an engineer with the Chicago Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad. He was married to Elizabeth Walker, who was born ca. 1884 in Kansas. The couple had three children: Norman E. (born ca. 1905), Gail (born ca. 1908), and Lovah (born ca. 1912). The couple moved to Seattle from Arkansas between 1905 and 1911. In 1930, Norman worked as a teacher at a public school in Seattle and was married to Leone M (born ca. 1905 in Iowa). In 1930, Gail worked as a painter. Lovah worked as a stenographer with a lumber company.

The building retains good integrity and is a good example of a Tudor Revival-style single-family residence and associated with the Ellingson and Walker families.

References:

City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.

Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed., Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Guide to the Architects (Seattle, University of Washington Press: 2014), 2nd edition.

King County Property Record Card (c. 1938–1972), Washington State Archives.

Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890–1996.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0407; FHL microfilm: 2342231

Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 31B; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 2342226

Constructed in 1930, this single-family residential building is located along the east side of Sixth Avenue N. The front facade faces west. The one-and-a-half-story building features a rectangular plan. The building stands on a site that is elevated above street grade, with stacked rock serving as a retaining wall along the sidewalk.

A clipped, cross-gable roof clad with asphalt composition shingles shelters interior spaces. The roof features flush gable ends with a prominent rake molding. Eave returns occur at the building’s outer corners. Interior and exterior brick chimneys service the building with decorative brickwork at the top of the chimneys.

A concrete foundation supports platform frame walls clad with red brick. The veneer brick has a slight raked finish, consisting of three clusters of raked lines separated by smooth areas. Soldier courses with alternating buff and red (at first story) and dark and red (at half story) brick outline the sides and header at window and door openings with rowlock sills. Steel lintels span the window openings below the flat brick headers.

An enclosed stoop projects off the center of the front facade with a projecting flat roof. Decorative brackets extend out from a narrow frieze below the roof with a decorative light fixture mounted to the V-groove board soffit above the entrance. The door is comprised of vertical V-groove boards. Painted wood brick moldings wrap around the doorway’s jambs and soffit. Brick-clad concrete stairs with a metal railing extend down to the sidewalk. There is a small balcony on top of the flat roof with a perimeter metal railing. A pair of single-lite French doors, flanked by side lites, open to the interior.

Several window types provide day lighting and ventilation. All feature painted wood brick moldings. Front west facade windows consist of a large central lite flanked by leaded-lite casement sash. Slender wood mullions separate the sash. This configuration repeats on both the north and south sides of the front entrance. The north facade windows consist of a pair of leaded casement sash, and single 1:1 sash with an upper leaded lite at the first story and paired 1:1 sash with an upper leaded lite at the upper story. The south facade appears to be configured similarly to the north facade; however, this could not be confirmed from the public right of way due to vegetation. The rear facade was not visible.

A basement garage doorway is located on the west facade’s south end with a concrete driveway leading down to this doorway. The upper-story French doors and side lites were originally leaded. The rock retaining wall replaced a sloped grass lawn. The garage door replaced a pair of side hung six-lite over three-panel garage doors. Work in 1959 installed the existing front facade leaded lite windows, replacing 10-lite casement sash. The balcony previously had a wood railing.

Alterations include a large shed roof dormer addition off the rear facade, vinyl windows added at the basement on the west facade, and a new garage door.