| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Colonial - Colonial Revival |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1921 |
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| Significance |
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Built in 1921, this building was occupied by George H. and Alma Comstock by 1938. Mr. Comstock was a captain in the Seattle Police Department. By 1940, David MacLean and Josephine Schultz lived in the building. Mr. MacLean remained through 1943. Robert W. Martin purchased the residence in March of 1948 for $15,500 and remained through 1951. Harold J. Sparkman lived in the building by 1953 through 1955. The building underwent an interior remodel in 1956. Glenn N. Memmer purchased the building in July of 1961 for $21,000 and remained through 1965. Philip Patricelli bought the residence in February of 1968 for $25,500.
The Mount Baker neighborhood comprises two north-south tending ridges located southeast of downtown Seattle along Lake Washington. Initial development of the area occurred relatively late, post-1900, following the construction of the Rainier Avenue Electric Street Railway in the 1890s. York Station on Rainier Avenue and the Dose Addition were developed earlier than the Mount Baker Park Addition, platted in 1907 by the Hunter Tract Improvement Company. The Mount Baker Park Addition represents the core of the neighborhood and is its primary character-defining feature. Mount Baker Park is one of Seattle’s earliest planned residential communities that successfully integrated the natural environment and a relatively exclusive residential neighborhood in its layout of lots, streets, boulevards, and parks. The houses, primarily built between 1905 and 1929, reflect a variety of eclectic and Northwest-based architectural styles, and include designs by many prominent local architects.
Other important influences were the streetcar connection with downtown Seattle, the integration of local parks and boulevards into the Olmsted system, the construction of Franklin High School in 1912, and the building of the Mount Baker tunnel and Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge to Mercer Island in 1940. Today this middle-to-upper income neighborhood remains predominantly residential, is home to an ethnically diverse population, and retains much of its planned character.
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| Appearance |
| Built in 1921, this substantial, Colonial Revival style, single-family dwelling is oriented to Thirty-Ninth Avenue South on a flat site 4’ above street level. This 1120 square foot, two-story house with a full basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 28’ by 40’, with an 11’ by 5’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the front gable roof. Modest, closed eave and gable overhangs with cornice returns define the roofline. Wood sash double hung 8:1 and 6:1 windows provide day lighting with a first story, canted bay window on the front facade. A pedimented stoop roof carried on a prominent entablature and Classically-inspired piers shelters the front stoop. An exterior sidewall brick chimney services the building. The front facing gable, entrance configuration and detailing set this building apart as an important stylistic variant within the neighborhood. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
| Unit Theme(s): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Moderate |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
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City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
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Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
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Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
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Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
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