| Historic Name: |
Lisa Carol Apartments |
Common Name: |
Lisa Carol Apartments |
| Style: |
Vernacular |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1929 |
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| Significance |
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This building, known as the Lisa Carol Apartments, was erected in 1929 for owners Frank E. Davidson and Jean Davidson (husband and wife) by J. R. Delvendahl Building Company. The Davidsons listed their address as 2212 N. 44th Street (the house immediately to the west of the apartment building) on the permit application; the builder’s address is given as 1815 E. Harrison. Charles Wood, who was probably a tradesman associated with Delvendahl, filed the application. The designer of the building was Seattle architect William H. Whitely.
The Davidsons designed a ten-car garage for the apartment building and acquired a permit to build it in 1929-31. It is not clear if this parking structure was actually erected. If so, it is no longer extant.
Several minor improvements have been made to the building over the last 35 years but none of these have significantly affected the appearance of the building.
The Davidsons owned the property until at least 1935 when a group listed in the Assessor’s record as the Real Estate Res Corporation appears to have come into possession of the building. This organization is not listed in city directories for the period and nothing could be discovered about its operations. The current owner, Robert Reverman, apparently acquired the property in 1971.
This structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of a vernacular apartment building completed at the end of a period in which apartment living first became popular in Seattle. The architect, W. H. Whitely, made a career of completing simple multi-family commissions such as this. Whitely was the designer of one of developer Fred Anhalt’s early buildings and worked on several projects for Anhalt’s partner, Jerome B. Hardcastle, Jr.
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| Appearance |
| This is a three-story, masonry veneer frame apartment building on a concrete foundation over a 3/4 basement. The structure has a simple rectangular footprint and contains 19 apartments.
The three-story body of the structure is clad with dark red brick laid up in a sloppy running bond. Darker, almost purple bricks are used to suggest quoins at the corners of the building and to accentuate the basket weave pattern in the face of the parapets above. Cast stone masonry units are used to accent the Tudor arch and entry surround at the structure’s front door. The heads of the window openings above the entry, and the central panel of the parapet, located on axis with the entry at the top of the building, also feature cast stone elements. The vast majority of the windows and doors are set in simple masonry openings with brick headers supported by steel lintels in a fashion common to most local vernacular brick veneer structures.
Double-hung windows are typical throughout the structure. Almost all of these units feature an upper sash divided by metal muntins into eight lights organized in a regular 2 x 4 pattern and an undivided lower sash. The windows usually occur in pairs, although three-unit assemblies occur in the upper two floors over the main entry and solitary units are found in the central third of the north and south ends of the building, and illuminating the apparent half-level stair landings just south of the main entry. The west elevation is very similar to the east elevation except for the fact that there is no formal entry on the west side of the building, a chimney is located near the north end of the elevation, and a door provides an exit from the structure at the half-level stair landing between the main floor and the basement. The north and south elevations are also nearly identical except for the undivided upper sash of each of the south elevation windows and the metal fire escape at the center of the south end.
It is not clear if the metal fire escape at the south end of the apartment building is an original feature of the design; however, the King County Property Record Card completed in 1937 indicates that 3 fire escapes existed at that time.
No significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Concrete, Stone - Cast, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Multiple Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
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| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
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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