Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 1626 1st AVE / Parcel ID 4232901480 / Inv #

Historic Name: Culver, R.C. House Common Name: Culver/Meagher House Style: Vernacular Neighborhood: Queen Anne Built By: Year Built: 1905   Significance In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. The Culver/Meagher House was constructed in 1905. Wisconsin native Robert Culver (1873-1938) arrived in Seattle shortly after the news of the Klondike gold strike swept across the nation. In early 1899, he was living in Ballard, the Shingle Capital of the World, working for the Stimson Mill Company as a shingle weaver cutting log bolts into shingles. The following year Moran Shipyards hired him as a ship carpenter. About 1902 he entered the house construction trades and by 1904 he was a building contractor constructing houses on speculation to sell. On September 28, 1905, a week after he mortgaged the property, Culver filed building plans with the Seattle Building Department to construct a 24 x 40 ft. 1 ½ story house. Culver built the house and probably designed the house. Culver constructed the house in the 90 days that the Building Department allowed him and he sold the house by the end of March 1906. Culver continued as a building contractor until 1914 when he opened Queen Anne Realty, which he operated until the beginning of the 1930s depression. By the end of 1906, John G. Meagher purchased the house apparently to rent it. One of the streetcars that ran up Queen Anne Hill passed within a block of the house. Later occupants. After 1922 the Grouts lived in the house. After pressman Homer Grout died in the late 1930s or early 1940s, widow Bertha M. lived there through the mid 1950s. In the late 1940s Tracy G. and Nadja K. Brown also lived there. In 1958 plumber Martin E. Carroll and his wife Anne M. purchased the house for $9,000. The residence appears to meet City of Seattle Landmark criteria due to the age of the structure (over 100 years old) and minimal alterations. Sources: "Mrs. R. C. Culver" Seattle Times February 26, 1958 Clipping File, B4. Seattle Public Library Building Permit # 37749 and "Building and Realty … Plans have been filed …" Seattle Daily Bulletin September 29, 1905 p. 4   Appearance On September 28, 1905 owner R. C. Cuver acquired a building permit for a "1 1/2 story frame dwelling 24 x 40 [feet]" which was valued at $1400.00. Culver completed the vernacular gable end house by the end of 1905. The east elevation gable is recessed with a narrow balcony with Doric columns. Recessed full width porch on east elevation has square columns. Hip dormers on north and south elevations. Three sided bay window on north elevation.

Detail for 1626 1st AVE / Parcel ID 4232901480 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Shingle, 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: one & ½ Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture Integrity Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: 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. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1904-1905) 4 volumes. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1916-1919) volumes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Seattle, Washington. (New York, Sanborn Map Company, 1949-1950 update) 11 volumes. Seattle Daily Bulletin

Photo collection for 1626 1st AVE / Parcel ID 4232901480 / Inv #

Photo taken Dec 23, 2004