| Historic Name: |
|
Common Name: |
|
| Style: |
Arts & Crafts |
Neighborhood: |
Mount Baker |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1908 |
| |
| Significance |
|
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
|
|
Built in 1908, this building was purchased by William A. and Ruth E. Mitchell in April of 1939. The Mitchell’s resided in the building through 1958. In March of 1966, Alan Mitchell purchased the building for $15,000, and in January of 1973, William Mitchell purchased the building.
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 1908, this Arts & Crafts style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular lot. The building is oriented to Thirty-Second Avenue South on a flat site 4’ above street level. This 1215 square foot, two-story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 30’ by 34’, with a 16’ by 7’ recessed front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, shingle-clad superstructure. The upper story projects slightly beyond the lower story. Asphalt composition roofing covers the front gable roof and dormer. Broad eave and gable overhangs with decoratively cut bargeboards and exposed rafters, purlins and braces define the roofline. Wood sash windows provide day lighting. A bay window projects on the side facade. A short flight of stairs leads to the front stoop. A low, solid railing wraps the stoop. Piers carry the upper portion of the house extended over the stoop. A balcony projects from the upper story on the front facade. A prominent, exterior, river rock chimney services the building. The composition of the front facade consisting of the three piers with the projecting upper story, balcony and river rock chimney set this building apart as unique within the Mount Baker neighborhood. |
|
|
| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
|
| Cladding(s): |
Shingle |
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): |
|
| Integrity |
|
Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
|
Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
|
Changes to Original Cladding: |
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."
|
|
|
