Historic Name: |
|
Common Name: |
|
Style: |
Colonial - Colonial Revival |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1916 |
|
Significance |
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
|
Built in 1916 at a cost of $7,500 including the garage, this building was designed for W. G. John by Seattle architect, Arthur L. Loveless. Work began in July and was completed by November of 1916. Frances M. and T. Cavan Howay purchased the building in August of 1937. The Howay’s resided previously at 2921 Thirty-Sixth Avenue South. By 1943, Gertrude H. Burwell lived in the building. Lester M. Michelson purchased the building in August of 1958 for $24,500 and it was sold to Clifford E. Logan in June of 1968 for $37,500.
Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971) studied architecture but did not complete his degree at Columbia University. He came to Seattle in 1907 and formed a partnership with Clayton Wilson, working primarily on large residences. He then worked briefly with Daniel Huntington until opening his own practice in 1915. Loveless is best known as an eclectic designer of houses that featured elegant detailing between about 1908 and 1942. He did a considerable amount of work in the Tudor Revival style. He designed more University of Washington sororities and fraternities than any other architect, including Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority (1929), Beta Theta Pi (1922), Alpha Gamma Delta (1923), and Zeta Psi (1927). His award-winning projects included his own residence, his office, and the Darrah Corbet residence. His best-known work is the Studio Building (1930-33) on Capitol Hill at 711 Broadway East, which included his office.
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.
|
|
|
Appearance |
Built in 1916, this Colonial Revival style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Cascadia Avenue South on a flat site 12’ to 15’ above street level. This 1669 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 45’ by 30’, with a 9’ by 26’ front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the shallow hip roof. Nearly flush eaves with a prominent cornice define the roofline. Wood sash double hung windows provide day lighting with wood paneling below the second story windows. A prominent octagonal bay window projects off the front facade. A brick chimney services the building. A significant one-story addition extends off the building’s back side. The octagonal bay window and Palladian entrance set the building apart as unique within the neighborhood. |
|
|
Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
|
Cladding(s): |
Shingle |
Foundation(s): |
Unknown |
Roof Type(s): |
Hip |
Roof Material(s): |
Unknown |
Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
two |
Unit Theme(s): |
|
Integrity |
Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
|
Major Bibliographic References |
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
|
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
|
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890-1996.
|
City of Seattle. Survey of City-Owned Historic Resources. Prepared by Cathy Wickwire, Seattle, 2001. Forms for Ravenna Park structures.
|
Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority. "Mount Baker: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources."
|
Mount Baker Community Club. Flowers We All Love Best in Mount Baker Park, (reprint of 1915 ed.)
|
Tobin, Caroline. (2004) "Mount Baker Historic Context Statement."
|
University District Historic Property Inventory Forms
|
Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
|
|
|