| Historic Name: |
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Common Name: |
Burke Avenue Apartments |
| Style: |
Vernacular, Spanish - Mediterranean |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1928 |
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| Significance |
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This three-story apartment building was built in 1928 according to the King County Property Record Card prepared for this property in 1937, and in the King County Assessor Property Characteristics Report (accessed in 2005). The building permit for the structure (#278343), issued June 29, 1928, lists Landon Construction Company as the owner and builder, and H. D. McKnight as the architect. The final inspection was completed on October 16, 1928.
The building was owned by the People’s Savings and Loan Association when it was surveyed by the Assessor in 1937 and appears to have been acquired by that organization in 1933. Christopher Sloan apparently bought the building in 1951. Alvin H. and Dorothy Wedemeyer purchased the building in 1954 and then apparently sold it to Charles W. and Dorothy Null in 1956. Bernard S. Storey, perhaps with others, appears to have come into possession of the building in 1960.
In early 1962, Storey received authorization from the city to rent units for periods of less than 30 days between April 21, 1962 and October 21, 1962. Such special use permit were apparently made available to apartment building owners to insure that sufficient housing would be available for visitors to the Century 21 Exposition (i.e., the Seattle Worlds Fair) which took place that year.
Fire damage was repaired for owner Won Sook Chung in 1972. The following year, this owner undertook additional interior work to enclose some interior stairways and add new doors. In 1974, additional interior alterations were completed by a new owner, Burke Avenue Associates, in an apparent effort to comply with new building or fire code provisions enacted in 1972.
Conversion burners were installed for owner Ron G. Danz in 1975. A fire alarm was added and modifications to the heating and electrical system were made for Danz between 1978 and 1980.
Additional electrical modifications were completed for owner Gerd Pullin in 1990.
In 1997, building owner Landon Arms Apartments added an electrical panel designed to serve a new cellular tower added to the top of the building that year; the tower itself was installed and is owned by Sprint Spectrum.
It is not known when the current owner, Landon Arms Partners, acquired the property.
Nyberg and Steinbrueck identified this building as a structure significant to the Wallingford community in "Wallingford: An Inventory of Buildings and Urban Design Resources." The building is significant as an example of apartment building construction completed in the 1920s when apartment living enjoyed a great citywide surge in popularity.
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| Appearance |
| This is a three story, brick and stucco clad, wood frame apartment building with a full basement on a concrete foundation. The ceramic tile at the front entry, the ogee skirt that provides a shallow protective roof at the entry, and the heavy cast stone lintels and sills give the structure a slightly baroque or Mediterranean feel. However, in its present form, the building presents an essentially utilitarian and vernacular face to the street.
Comparison of the existing structure with drawings prepared by the architect in 1928 suggests that the glass block presently employed in the window openings of the central entry tower and the curvature of the tower itself are not original elements of the design, although they no doubt date from the initial construction of the building. The hipped clay tile mansard elements and attic dormers that the architects designed for the main blocks of he building were apparently never installed. In addition, the original hipped, clay tile clad roofs that were installed at the top of the stucco towers flanking the entry appear to have been removed at some point since 1937, a change that has negatively affected the appearance of the east facade. The sashes in most of the window openings appear to have been replaced. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Ceramic tile, Glass - Glass Block, Stone - Cast, Stucco, Wood |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet, Other |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Domestic - Multiple Family |
Plan: |
Other |
| Structural System: |
Balloon Frame/Platform Frame |
No. of Stories: |
three |
| 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 Windows: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
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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