| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1911 |
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| Significance |
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This house was erected in 1911. The permit application was filed by the builder, Emil Beck, who listed his address on the permit application as 945 Emerson Street, which is also the address indicated for the property owner, John Lorentz. City directories indicate that the builder and owner were still living on Emerson in 1912. The name of the designer is not recorded.
The structure appears to have been built as a one-story building and the attic appears to have been unfinished when the Assessor surveyed the property in 1937. However, it appears the attic has been converted to habitable space since that date.
A permit was issued for construction of a garage at the rear of the lot in 1926. The name of the owner is difficult to decipher but may have been A. M. Burew or M. Bureu. The name of the erector appears to have been Biltright Company (located at 1545 4th Avenue S. according to the permit application). Neither the owner’s nor the builder’s name is listed in Polk’s Seattle Directory is the years immediately following issuance of the permit. A second garage appears to have been built in 1931 for owner George R. Gilbert (who listed his address as 2115 N. 40th Street on the permit). It appears only the latter structure was extant when the property was surveyed by the Assessor in 1937 and neither garage has survived into the present era.
The King County Property Record Card suggests that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company acquired the property by 1935. Charles J. Stewart and his wife came into possession of the property in 1972 but may not have lived at the house (Tim Evans is listed as the resident in the 1974 issue of Polk’s Seattle Directory, for example). The current owner purchased the property from Suzanne Florence Stewart in 1982.
This structure is significant as a mostly intact and fairly well maintained example of craftsman bungalow design built in the middle of Seattle’s first north end building boom. When surveyed in 2004, it was the best of a group of six similar structures built on this street (4310, 4314, 4318, 4320, 4324, and 4326 Thackeray Place N. E.). The front end is somewhat unusual because, although the porch roof extends across the entire front end of the structure, it is not an extension of the main roof, has a different slope, and is detailed differently. The checkerboard pattern in the porch gable is a unique feature mildly reminiscent of Asian architecture.
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| Appearance |
| This is a1-1/2 story, shingle and clapboard clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a half basement. The wide bargeboards supported by light triangular knee braces, the unenclosed soffits of the overhangs, the exposed rafter tails and the detailing of the front porch and of the windows are all typical of craftsman bungalow design.
Four built-up wood piers, standing on wood capped pedestals that extend up from the solid, clapboard-clad porch rail, support the front end of the porch. The central bay formed by the piers is wider than the two side bays and the front stairs enter the porch between the two pies that define the central bay. The entry door is off center to the north. In the wall to the north of the entry is a double-hung window with an upper sash divided by metal muntins into 40 lights in a 4 x 10 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash. South of the door is a similar but wider double-hung unit with 52 upper sash lights in a 4 x 13 pattern.
The nature of the finish material in the porch roof gable is unclear. The photo of the building made by the Assessor in 1937 suggests that wood half timbering once divided a rough stucco cladding into the regular pattern of squares visible in the gable; however, the stucco cladding may have been replaced at some pint by a smoother panel product.
A chimney is located at the north elevation near the front of the house where it is flanked by small square single sash windows in typical bungalow manner. Diamond shaped windows are located just east of the chimney group and at the east end of the north elevation. A bay projects into the side yard from between two double–hung windows west of the easternmost diamond. The narrow horizontal window mounted near the top of the bay’s north wall does not appear to be original, and the entire bay may in fact be an addition.
This structure shares a driveway with the house next door to the north. However, there does not appear to be a garage at the site.
The south and east elevations are not visible form the street. The photograph made by the Assessor in 1937 shows a large bay with a large window assembly tucked under the eave near the center of the south elevation. It also shows a rectangular window high in the wall near the front end of the house. The continued existence of these features could not be confirmed.
The gable window in the front (west) elevation appears to have been replaced and several large decorative brackets appear to have been stripped from the porch. The original wood entry stairs have been replaced with concrete stairs and new metal guardrails have been added. The front door has been replaced. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Shingle, Wood, Wood - Clapboard |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Gable |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition-Shingle |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Single Family |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
one & ½ |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Community Planning/Development |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Slight |
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Changes to Plan: |
Slight |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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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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