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Summary for 2737 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001595 / Inv #

Historic Name: Common Name:
Style: American Foursquare Neighborhood: Mount Baker
Built By: Year Built: 1913
 
Significance
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.
Built in 1913, this building was purchased by Ann Jones in October of the same year. Polk directories list Edna and John E. Jones as the residents by 1938. Mr. Jones was an engineer. By 1944 through 1958, William K. Landrum lived in 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 1913, this substantial, American Foursquare style, single-family dwelling stands on a rectangular corner lot. The building is oriented to Thirty-Fourth Avenue South on a flat site 7’ above street level. This 1236 square foot, two-and-a-half story house with a full daylight basement features a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 44’ by 28’, with a 24’ by 10’ front porch. A poured concrete foundation supports the wood frame, clapboard-clad superstructure. Asphalt composition roofing covers the hip roof. Broad overhanging eaves with decoratively cut rafters and a broad fascia define the roofline. Cornice returns highlight the gable roof dormers. A belt course demarcates the transition between the first and second stories. Wood sash 10:1 double hung windows provide day lighting. A unique Palladian window accents the front roof dormer. A direct flight leads to the expansive front porch. A battered, clapboard-clad lower portion supports paneled pillars that carry the broad porch roof. A low railing wraps the second story balcony above the porch. A brick chimney services the building.

Detail for 2737 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001595 / Inv #

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Wood - Clapboard Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Hip Roof Material(s): Asphalt/Composition
Building Type: Domestic - Single Family Plan: Square
Structural System: Balloon Frame/Platform Frame No. of Stories: two & ½
Unit Theme(s):
Integrity
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Changes to Windows: 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.
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."

Photo collection for 2737 34th AVE / Parcel ID 5700001595 / Inv #


Photo taken Nov 06, 2003

Photo taken
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