| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Tudor - Cottage |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1930 |
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| Significance |
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Built in 1930, this building was constructed after Jacob A. and Leonella P. Benshoop purchased the property in March of 1920, according to the tax records. Seattle architect, Alban Shay, designed the building. Dr. Benshoop was a physician with an office in the Stimson Building. The Benshoop’s previously resided at 2117 Fourteenth Avenue South. In 1930, a concrete retaining wall was built. In 1945, Dr. Benshoop hired a contractor to repair fire damage to the building. Jacob Keiter purchased the property in January of 1946 for $14,500. Frank M. Sweeney purchased the residence in June of 1947 for $20,000. In 1950, Mr. Sweeney hired an engineer, Charles Tiffany, to replace the existing rear porch on the residence. The building was remodeled in 1955. By 1955 through 1968, Edmund C. Bold occupied the building.
Alban A. Shay (1899-1991) completed his architecture degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Bebb & Gould in Seattle in 1924 and worked independently in Seattle from 1927-1935. From 1936-1939, he worked in partnership with Paul Thiry, and he returned to independent practice from 1940 to 1975. His designs included residences and commercial buildings in Seattle. He designed the Thiel residence (1928) in Mount Baker at 3328 Cascadia Avenue South.
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 1930, this Tudor-Revival style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to the view over Lake Washington on a steeply sloped site 20’ to 50’ below street level. This 1008 square foot, one-and-a-half story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 28’ by 36’, with a 3’ by 9’ front stoop. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, brick veneer-clad superstructure. Wood shingles cover the side gable roof. Flush gable ends with minimal eave overhangs define the roofline. Small wood sash windows provide day lighting along the back and side facades. A concrete pathway leads to the main entrance stoop. Brick piers frame a round arched entrance. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick |
Foundation(s): |
Unknown |
| Roof Type(s): |
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Roof Material(s): |
Wood - Shake |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
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| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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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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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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