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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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Built in 1922, this building was designed by Seattle architect, Arthur L. Loveless, and owned by John A. Porter. The total estimated building costs were $20,000. Construction began in June and continued through November of the same year. By 1932 through 1940, Christian J. and Evelyn Sebastian lived in the building. Mr. Sebastian worked as the Secretary Treasurer Manager for the Sebastian-Stuart Fish Co. Joseph O’Brien lived in the house by 1943. By 1951 through 1968, Nicholas B. Bez occupied the building.
Arthur L. Loveless (1873-1971) studied architecture but did not complete his degree at Columbia University. He came to Seattle in 1907 and formed a partnership with Clayton Wilson, working primarily on large residences. He then worked briefly with Daniel Huntington until opening his own practice in 1915. Loveless is best known as an eclectic designer of houses that featured elegant detailing between about 1908 and 1942. He did a considerable amount of work in the Tudor Revival style. He designed more University of Washington sororities and fraternities than any other architect, including Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority (1929), Beta Theta Pi (1922), Alpha Gamma Delta (1923), and Zeta Psi (1927). His award-winning projects included his own residence, his office, and the Darrah Corbet residence. His best-known work is the Studio Building (1930-33) on Capitol Hill at 711 Broadway East, which included his office.
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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