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The City of Seattle
Preservation Board
700 Fifth Avenue Suite 1700 Seattle, Washington 98104 (206) 684-0228
Landmark Nomination Form
Name: Victorian House Office Building Year Built: c.1893-1898
Street and Number: 1523 E Madison St
Assessors File No.: 723460-0220 Block: 4Plat Name: Rentons Addition Lot: 6
Legal Description: Lot 6, Block 4, Renton's Addition to the City of Seattle, according
to the plat thereof recorded in volume 3 of plats, page(s) 118, in King County,Washington.
Present Owner: Mad Flats LLC
Present Use: Business Offices
Address: 408 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
Original Owner: Unknown Original Use: Single family residence
Architect: Unknown Builder: Unknown
Administered by
The Historic Preservation Program, The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
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Victorian House Office Building Landmark Nomination
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Physical Description 1Setting
SiteExterior
InteriorAlterations
Building History
Statement of Significance 5Historical Context-Development of the Central District
Victorian Architecture in the Central District & the Queen Anne Style
Bibliography 10
Submittal & Preparers Page 12
Attachments
Attachment A:Vicinity Map (p.A-2)
Current & Historic Photographs
Exterior Views: Photos A-1A-12 (p.A-3-A-8)Photo A-1: Viewing Southwest from the corner of East Madison Street at 16 th Avenue East. The
Victorian House is on the left side of the photo
Photo A-2: Viewing northeast from the intersection of East Madison Street and 16th Avenue East.
Photo A-3: Viewing northeast from the intersection of East Madison Street and 15th Avenue East.
Photo A- 4: Viewing west from mid-block at 16th Avenue East where the rear alley intersects.
Photo A-5: The north elevation of the Victorian House building.
Photo A-6: The front, north elevation historic tax assessor file photo (July 1937).
Photo A-7: The east elevation of the Victorian House.
Photo A-8: The east elevation from a historic tax assessor file (July 1985).
Photo A- 9: The south elevation of the Victorian House building.
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Photo A-10: The southwest corner of the building showing a partial view of the west elevation andthe single-story shed-roof addition.
Photo A-11: The original entry, not currently in use, on the north elevation.
Photo A- 12: The current primary entry on the east elevation
Interior Views: Photos A-13
A-20 (p. A-9-A.12)Photo A-13: First-floor entry reception area, facing east.
Photo A-14: First floor main office, facing north.
Photo A-15: Central east-west hall, facing east.
Photo A- 16: Reception room in central part of the first floor.
Photo A-17: Office in southeast corner of the first floor.
Photo A- 18: Stair & landing in west side shed roof addition, facing north
Photo A-19: Second floor hall, facing south
Photo A-20: Office on second floor in west-facing gable, facing west.
Attachment B:
Victorian Landmarks in the Central District: Photo B-1 B-4 (pg.B-2-B-3)Photo B-21: The 23rd Avenue Houses Group, 812-828 23rd Avenue (built 1892-93)
Photo B-2: The Victorian House, at 1414 S. Washington Street (built 1900)
Photo B-3: The Yesler Houses, at 103, 107 and 109 23rd Avenue.
Photo B-4: Victorian Row Apartments, 1234 S. King Street, Built in 1891.
Victorian Houses c.1890-1900 located in the Vicinity of the Victorian House:
Photo B-5 B-10 (pg.B-4-B-9)Photo B- 5: 1452 20th Ave E / property tax # 7228501800 / built 1893
Photo B- 6: 1433 20th
Ave E / property tax # 7228502135 / built 1900
Photo B- 7: 1421 20th
Ave / property tax # 7228502145 / built 1899
Photo B- 7: 1421 20th
Ave / property tax # 7228502145 / built 1899
Photo B- 8: 826 20th Ave / property tax # 9126100050 / built 1893
Photo B- 9: 1905 E Union / property tax # 7228502575 / built 1899
Photo B- 10: 724 21st
Ave / property tax # 9126101155 / built 1890
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Attachment C:Historic Property Record Card & Historic Sanborn MapsC-1: Property Record Card (Puget Sound Regional Archives, 1937)
C-2: Sanborn Map C. 1893C-3: Sanborn Map c. 1900-1905
Attachment D
Permit Drawings from DPD: 1972 conversion from SFR to Dental Clinic
1-site & floor plan
1984 conversion from Dental Clinic to Victorian House office building1-cover sheet
2-plot plan
3-existing & proposed first floor plans
3-existing & proposed second floor plans
4-south & west elevations
5-north & east elevations6-exterior stair framing plan
Current Site Plan
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INTRODUCTION
This report discusses a former single family residence constructed in c. 1893-1898 that is currently in use
as a professional office building called the Victorian House. The construction date on the Property Record
Card from historic King County Assessor files indicates its construction date as 1898, although the house
does appear on a Sanborn Insurance map dating to 1893. The building is located at the southeast corner of
the intersection of East Madison Street and 16th
Avenue East, near the northwest corner of the Central
District neighborhood. According to the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, The Central
District is bounded to the north by East Madison Street, Interstate 90 to the south, Rainier Avenue/12th
Avenue South to the west, and Lake Washington to the east. The Victorian House was constructed during
one ofSeattles earliest residential construction booms in one of Seattles earliest streetcar neighborhoods
and has some general associations with that significant period of the residential development of Seattle.
The building retains some features of Victorian-era Queen Anne style architecture.The building wasincluded in a Dept. of Neighborhoods (DON) survey of buildings that was undertaken in the Central
District in 2001. The data in the DON Historical Sites Database includes a field notation of thepropertys
Status classification, which is defined by DON as: Each property is assigned a Status classification.
This classification is an evaluation of the property's eligibility. The buildings Status classification was
listed as No-Altered, which is defined by DON as: These are properties with physical features so
altered that there is a loss of integrity and physical fabric that no further study is warranted. These are also
properties that represent no distinctive architectural style and no further study is warranted. The building
was not selected to be included in an additional survey conducted between 2005-2009, which identified
significant buildings in residential neighborhoods that were constructed before 1906.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Setting
The subject building is located at the northeast corner of the block bounded on the west by 15th
Avenue
East, on the east by 16th Avenue East, on the south by East Pike Street and on the north by East Madison
Street, on lot 6 Block 4 of Rentons Addition. Because East Madison Street runs diagonally from
southwest to northeast and bisects the rectangular street grid created by the streets between East Pine
Street to the north and East Pike Street to the south, the block is nearly triangular in shape. The Victorian
House, at the east end of the block is the oldest and smallest building on the block and the only one that
was originally constructed as a single family residence. At the western end of the block is McGilvra Place
Park. The small tree-shaded park is only .06 acres and was very recently renovated, including the vacationof 15th Ave to create a direct connection to the block where it previously was a small triangular lot
bounded entirely by streets. It was created in 1901 and named for John J. McGilvra. McGilvra was a
prominent attorney and judge who funded both the development of a wagon road that became East
Madison Street, as well as the early streetcar lines on that route, in order to connect his private property
on Lake Washington to Downtown. East Madison Street is still a major east-west surface transit corridor
and remains the only direct route connecting Lake Washington at the east end to Downtown and the
Elliott Bay waterfront on the west end.
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The Beachmont Apartments is a three-story apartment building constructed in 1920 on the adjacent lot
west of the Victorian House. West of the Beachmont is the Fenton Apartments, a three-story apartment
building constructed in 1908. Adjacent to the Fenton building to the west is a five-story mixed use
commercial building constructed in 1988 with retail on the first level and apartments above. All three
apartment buildings are currently owned and managed as a single property called the Madison Court
Apartments. The Bullitt Foundation building (2012), west of the Madison Court, is the newest building onthe block and faces onto Madison Street adjacent to McGilvra Park.
A brick-paved alley running southwest to northeast diagonally bisecting block 4 of Rentons addition is
located behind the commercial buildings that face Madison Street. A three-story condominium complex
constructed in 1988 is located south of the brick alley on the southern triangular portion of the block, on
lots 7, 8 and 9.
The neighborhood is zoned NC3-65, a pedestrian-oriented commercial shopping district with a 65 foot
height limit for buildings. Described in DPD code charts as designated to serving the surrounding
neighborhood and a larger community, citywide or regional clientele; allowing comparison shopping
among a range of retail businesses. Land uses include supermarkets, restaurants, offices, hotels, clothingshops, business support services, and residences that are compatible with the areas mixed -use character.
Building types are single-purpose commercial structures, office buildings, multi-story mixed-use and
residential structures. Non-residential uses typically occupy the street front.
Generally the vicinity is characterized by a concentration of older large apartment buildings dating from
the early part of the century into the 1920s, a few commercial buildings from that era further to the west,
and numerous more recently developed large mixed-use buildings along East Madison Street. More single
family residences are located further from the dense arterial street and several institutions have a presence
in the area. Institutions range from the smaller social services agency of the Jewish Family Center located
just north of east Madison Street, to the large presence of Seattle University at 12th
and East Madison and
stretching south, as well as the new Bullitt Foundation building.
Site
The building is located on a corner lot at the southwest corner of the intersection of East Madison Street
and 16th Avenue East. The lot is relatively level and almost triangular in form measuring on the East
Madison Street front 75ft wide x 117.7ft deep on the east side x 6ft wide on the south side, totaling about
4500 sq. ft. The lot is bounded on the east by 16 th Avenue East where a curb cut provides access to a
small paved parking lot taking up most of the east side of the lot. Several large, mature deciduous trees
are in the parking strip bordering the lot along East Madison Street and 16th Avenue East. A wood privacy
fence runs along the front, north edge of the property and wraps around the northeast corner of the
property. The property is bound on the south by a brick alley with direct access to a paved parking areaacross the rear, south of the lot. The building is close to the west edge of the lot where the lot is bordered
by the exterior wall of the neighboring three-story brick apartment building.
Exterior
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The former single family residence is a two-story wood-frame building with a post and pier and partial
concrete block foundation. It has a rectangular form with a cross-gable roof and measures approximately
25ft. wide by 41ft deep, totaling 1840 square feet of interior office space. The building is clad primarily in
original wood shiplap cladding with patterned shingles in the gables and on overhanging eaves on the
projecting bay windows on the front elevation. The roof is clad in asphalt composition shingles.
The primary, north faade features a two-story canted bay projecting from the front central gable wall.
The front entry, which is no longer an accessible entry, is an enclosed entry under a shed-roof projection
in in the northwest corner with a concrete stair with metal railing and a concrete stoop with brick overlay
and a false wood panel door covering an interior wall. The two-story bay windows have single metal sash
with one-over-one lights on the narrower canted sides of both stories with metal security grills over the
lower half of the windows on the first story. An original wood sash Queen Anne style window with
tracery pattern in the upper sash is in the wider middle part of the first story. Above the Queen Anne style
window are paired one-over-one metal sashes in the middle of the upper story bay.
The east faade features a gable wall projecting from the center with a hanging box bay window
projecting from the gable wall at the first story. The primary entry to the right of the gabled projection hasa small wood porch with turned wood posts and railings and wood steps leading to a wood-panel door
with a small stained glass transom. A one-over-one metal sash window with a security grill on the lower
half is to the right of the door. The windows in the box bay include paired one-over-one metal sashes on
the central wider front and single similar windows on the narrower sides. All of them have metal security
grills on the lower half. There are two one-over-one metal sash windows, one on each level, to the left of
the box bay near the south end of the east elevation. The lower window has a metal grill over the lower
half.
The south, rear faade is dominated by a large two-story exterior staircase and landings with turned wood
posts and railings sheltered under the projecting rear extension of the gable roof with an exposed roof
truss in the gable. The stairs lead to a rear entry at the second story that is a contemporary wood paneldoor with a single light in the upper half with a metal security grill. Single one-over-one metal sash
windows are on either side of the second story entry. A first story rear entry is near the southwest corner
of the house. It has concrete steps leading to a panel door similar to the other doors, with a transom above.
A window to the right of the entry has three small grouped one-over-one metal sash windows with metal
grills on the lower halves.
The west elevation has a single-story shed roof addition projecting from the first story on the southern
two-thirds of the original west elevation exterior. A projecting gable wall is near the center of the upper
story. Three single one-over-one metal sash windows are on this elevation. One in the upper gable, one to
the right of the gable under the cross-gable eaves, and one on the first level near the northern third of the
west elevation that was not covered by the new addition. Another similar window faces north from thisshed roof addition.
Interior
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The first floor interior is accessed from the east side entry and leads directly into a small reception area
near the front, north third of the building. The rest of the front first floor is a large L-shaped office lit by
the front-facing bay window. The middle third of the first floor includes two rooms serving currently as
an office and a reception area which are located along two interior halls that form an L-shape in the
middle of the interior. One hall runs north-south connecting the front, middle and rear portions of the
building and the hall running east-west leads to the addition on the west side. The one-story additionshelters a stair and landing lit by two skylights. This new stair runs north-south and at the north end
provides access to the upper story via and L-shaped connection at the landing with the original stairwell
running east-west. The rear third of the first story includes an office in the southeast corner, a small
kitchen with a rear egress original to the pre-1937 addition, and a restroom in the southwest corner. The
upper story has a large office in the front with four smaller offices and a small storage room off of a
central hall that runs north-south with an egress at the south end that is accessed from the exterior by the
wood frame two-story covered porch and stairs.
Alterations
Sometime before 1937, a single story 11ft x 25ft addition was constructed on the rear, south elevation. In1972, the house was remodeled on the first floor interior to accommodate a new use as a dental clinic.
DPD permit records indicate that the occupancy use did not include the upper floor. The lot was paved to
create parking areas on the east and south sides at this time.
In 1984 the building was remodeled again. A small single-story shed-roof addition was constructed on the
west elevation near the rear southwest corner of the house, a new entry with a porch was added to the east
elevation, and a second-story addition was added to the rear, south above the earlier first story addition,
which also altered the original second-story roofline. Additionally, a two-story exterior stair with landings
was constructed on the rear, south elevation, below the extended new roof, to access a new secondary
entry on the rear second story. The original primary, north entry was altered with a new porch, concrete
stair and metal porch railings and a new door. The occupancy use was changed from clinic to office andthe interior was remodeled again. Office spaces totaled ten with the second story addition and new
occupancy permit that allowed office use on the second story. The new side entry replaced the original
front entry, and access from the front sidewalk was blocked by a privacy fence which extends across the
walkway without a gate.
In addition to the structural changes, almost all of the original one-over-one single wood sash windows
have been replaced with metal sash windows with the exception of the lower central sash of the bay
window on the facade. The property also originally had a garage which was demolished sometime before
1972.
Bui lding Hi story
The building was constructed in c. 1893-1898 as a two-story single family residence. Original
construction permit files were not available. The building appears to have been constructed as a
vernacular style of the Victorian era, with some features such as a Queen Anne style window and
patterned shingles, but no distinctive architectural elements identified with high-style architecture. The
original house was also relatively small and most likely intended for a working class family. The earliest
known owner and occupant of the house was Herbert R. Schmidt. Schmidt purchased the house in 1926
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and resided there with his wife Antonia. Schmidt was a department manager for the Dagg-Derneden Co,
shirt manufacturers located at 163 Jackson Street in Pioneer Square. Schmidt owned the house and
resided there until at least 1966, at which time he was retired from his own Custom Shirt Shop.
Dr. Robert E. Harris purchased the house in 1971 and hired the architectural firm of Harmon, Pray and
Detrich to renovate the building for his own use as a dental clinic in 1972. In 1984 Harris sold the
building and the new owners renovated it for use as an office building. Upon completion of the
renovation, Sharleen Faden sold the property to Joseph W. and Colleen E. Widden in 1985. Widden, a
New York Life Insurance Company agent and broker, moved his offices into the building and leased the
rest of the offices, at which time the building became known as the Victorian House. Widden continues to
operate his firm from this address. The property was recently purchased by Mad Flats LLC. According to
past city directory listings, office tenants have primarily been offering services in counseling,
psychotherapy or natural medicine, including the Pacific Rim Acupuncture practice and Natural Health
Clinic with 6-8 practitioners in 1996. Current tenant occupancy is similar, including two massage
practitioners and several counselors that are either licensed mental health care workers and/or clinical
social workers.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
H istorical Context-Development of the Centr al Di stri ct
The Central District was Seattles first streetcar suburb.The area has some of the citys oldest housing
stock and commercial buildings. Although street-cars were not developed until the late 1800s, Madison
Street was developed as a wagon road in 1865 by John McGilvra who owned what is now Madison Park
on Lake Washington. The first plat in the Central District was the Edes and Knight plat. It was platted
during the Territorial Period in 1870 and encompassed 40 blocks from 10th
to 20th
Avenues between
Cherry and Union Streets. Other areas further south were also platted in the 1870s. Additional plats and
significant development of these plats into suburban residential areas did not begin until transportationroutes from Pioneer Square improved in the 1880s, combined with subsequent economic and population
growth that followed significant development of transcontinental and regional railroad connections to the
Pacific Northwest and Seattle. The Northern Pacific reached Seattle in 1894 and the Great Northern
reached Seattle in 1896.
In 1870 Seattles population was only 1,107 according to the census. At that time travel to and from
Pioneer Square to outlying areas was difficult via the few unimproved wagon roads and many pioneers
still traveled by foot. The majority of residences were located in the Pioneer Square business district
which was also the hub of shipping and commercial industries. With the anticipation of the arrival of the
Transcontinental Railroad, however, the town began to grow steadily, reaching a population of 3,533 by
1880. The 1880s marked the beginning of a population and development boom spurred by the arrival ofthe railroad in Tacoma in 1883 with extensions and service to Seattle expanded in the following years. In
that decade the population grew to 42,837.
Beginning in 1884 the citys first horse-drawn streetcar lines were developed and improved access to
Queen Anne and South Lake Union, spurred residential development along the route. Many of the
Victorian residences constructed on the hill to the north of Elliot Bay were grand houses that commanded
majestic views. These homes were constructed by Seattles earliest business and civic leaders and were
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predominately built in the Queen Anne style, thus the neighborhood on the hill became known as Queen
Anne Hill. The Queen Anne neighborhood is still significantly associated with its collection of early
Victorian architecture of its namesake.
Improved transportation access and road improvements in the 1880s included development of the citys
first cable-car line in 1888 which linked Pioneer Square with lake Washington via Yesler Way to Leschi,
where a ferry landing took passengers across the lake to the Eastside. Within a year over 1,500 new
homes were constructed within three blocks of the railway line and Seattles first real estate boom was
underway.
The Victorian House is located in the Rentons Addition to Seattle, which is encompassed by the blocks
from East Marion Street to East Howell Street between 15th and 18th Avenues, just north of the Edes and
Knight Addition. It was platted in March 1889. After Seattles Great Fire in June of 1889 over 400 new
plats were established in just two years, when new fire codes pushed residential development out of the
downtown area. That same year Seattles first electric streetcar began running from Pioneer Square to
Queen Anne and the Lake Union area and the citys population and residential development boomed
tremendously. Prior to 1888 developers had filed 168 plats in King County, but between 1888 and 1891almost 500 plats were established.
Numerous additional electric railway lines were quickly developed by real estate entrepreneurs eager to
bring buyers to their newly developed plats in outlying areas, including McGilvra. McGilvra developed
an electric street railway on Madison Street in 1890, linking Downtown and Elliott Bay with Lake
Washington. He also developed the Madison Park shore with piers and bathing facilities and other
amusements as public amenities to attract new property owners to his lake front properties. Later, a ferry
landing extended transportation connections to areas east of Lake Washington from the piers.
As the street railway systems continued to be extended to outlying areas, residential development boomed
in these areas and commercial development centered along the transportation routes. There was a brieflull in development during the economic downturn of the Panic of 1893, but the Klondike Gold Rush of
1897 spurred the local economy again. By that time both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
Railroads had reached Seattle and prospectors and immigrants began pouring into the city. By 1900 the
citys population reached 80, 671. Census data for that year noted 11,872 dwellings to house them, most
of which were single family residences.
In the early part of the 20th-century Seattle began to develop into a modern metropolis. The streetcar
system became consolidated and municipal utilities were developed to provide improved transportation,
including paved roads, and to provide communities with electricity, water and other modern amenities.
The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition drew yet more newcomers to the city. Although increases in
population were less dramatic in the following years, the metropolis experienced continued significantpopulation and economic growth up through the prosperous 1920s. Especially in the early days of
suburban development, public institutions such as schools, religious and social institutions were
established to serve these neighborhood communities and are indicative of the population growth and
community character of the neighborhoods they served.
In the Central Area, the T.T. Minor School opened at East Union and 18 th Avenue in 1890 and served
students from a wide area. From 1890 until World War I, much of the Central Area was a predominantly
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Jewish neighborhood. The early Jewish settlers came from Germany and were hardware and grocery
merchants who reached Seattle in the 1850s, settling on Capitol Hill and eventually in the Central Area.
Several Jewish institutions were established in the Central area, including the Temple De Hirsch Sinai
established at 15th Avenue and Union Street in 1907. The congregations current temple, constructed in
1960, is located on the block south of the Victorian House office building. Many were also located further
south in the Squire Park and Yesler areas of the Central District..
Although the Central Districts African-American population did not become more predominantly
associated with the Central District until the mid-century, African-Americans were some of the early
settlers in the area. Successful businessman William Gross, who arrived in Seattle in 1861, was an
African American Pioneer owned a restaurant and hotel in Pioneer Square. He purchased property and
settled in the area around East Madison at 24th
Avenue East. After losing his business in 1889, when
Pioneer Square was destroyed by the Great Seattle Fire, Grose and his son, George, operated a truck farm
at their East Madison ranch. Other Black families settled nearby and in the early 1900s numerous Black-
owned businesses were owned and operated along East Madison Street near the vicinity of 24 th Avenue
East. African-American churches and cultural organizations were also established on and near the East
Madison district. The First African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 1522 14th Avenue, is thehome of the oldest African-American church in Seattle. It had been organized in 1890 and convened in
various places in the vicinity of 19th Avenue East and East Madison Street until purchasing a large house
at its current location. A new building was constructed on that site in 1912 and was remodeled and
expanded in 1955 by the African-American Architect Benjamin F. McAdoo and is a designated Seattle
City Landmark.
Catholic institutions also had an early presence in the neighborhood, including Seattle University which
was founded by Jesuits in 1891 near the southeast corner of Broadway and East Madison Street. The
present Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, at 820 18th Avenue, was erected in 1904 and is the
oldest standing Catholic Church in Seattle. The Italianate style building was designed by Williams &
Clark and is a designated Seattle City Landmark. The Sisters of Providence established a hospital at 16 th
Avenue East and Jefferson Street that opened in 1910. The institution and associated facilities grew to
cover four blocks of the neighborhood. In 2000 this nearby institution became part of the Swedish
Medical Center, known as the Cherry Hill Campus.
Areas further south in the Central District hosted other ethnic populations such as Italians, who were
concentrated in the area that is now Judkins Park. They established many truck farms in the area and sold
their produce in Pike Place Market. Japanese immigrants began arriving in the 1880s and initially settled
in the International District. A steamship line began regular service to Japan in 1896 and as the Japanese
population grew it extended east into the Central District along Yesler Way. Many Japanese businesses
were centered around Yesler Way and 23rd
Avenue by 1920. Later other Asian Americans settled nearby,
especially along Jackson Street.
In the post -World War II era the area experienced a demographic shift and the African American
community grew to have a larger presence. During the war there was an influx of African Americans who
came to take advantage of jobs in the war industries and Japanese Americans were relocated to internment
camps. After the war many Japanese did not return to their former businesses and residences and the
majority of the Jewish community moved to the newly developing suburban communities in outlying
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areas. From 1950 until 1970, the Central Area's population dropped from 19,900 to 13,000. Many of the
religious and public institutions from the early development of the neighborhood were later converted to
new uses to serve new community groups. For example the former Chevra Bikur Cholim synagogue, at
Yesler Way and 17th Avenue, which was designed by the Jewish architect B. Marcus Priteca and dates to
1915. The building was converted for use as an African-American theater in 1969 as the Langston
Hughes Cultural Center and is a Seattle City Landmark.
In more recent years the population has grown significantly and the area continues to support an
ethnically diverse population and development patterns and zoning have influenced the shift toward high-
density, mixed-use commercial/residential development. In the last 20 years several new mixed-use
buildings were constructed in the vicinity of the Victorian House office building, including the six-story
Madison Crossings building, constructed in 1998 and located diagonally across from the Victorian House
at East Madison and 16th Avenue East. The six-story mixed use building further east, anchored by a
Trader Joes store was constructed in 2004. Across from the new Bullitt Foundation building (2012) is the
new Pearl building (2012), a six-story mixed-use building. Several other similar buildings have been
constructed near this block and further west and a few lots on these blocks, some of which are empty
because older buildings have already been demolished, are awaiting plan approvals for similardevelopment.
Victorian Er a Archi tecture in the Central Area & the Queen Anne Style
As an early street-car neighborhood, the Central Area developed as a suburban area of predominately
single-family houses on lots that were platted along transportation routes. Typically the transit corridors
were developed with more commercial businesses to serve the needs of the neighborhood, with more
residential development on lots nearby. Pioneer homes built in Seattle were typically similar to rural
farmhouses of the East Coast and Midwest that were rectangular, two-story structures with a gabled-front
and little ornamentation. Beginning in the 1880s, when suburban development patterns were established
in Seattle, this form was modified and vernacular houses constructed as middle-class and working-classdwellings began to adapt some of the form and ornamentation of the popular Queen Anne style. In Seattle
large high-style examples of the Queen Anne style were built on Queen Anne Hill by the citys earliest
wealthy pioneers. In the 1890s and the first few years of the twentieth century, Queen Anne style
structures and vernacular houses with Queen Anne elements were commonly built in the early suburban
development period. These were the most common types constructed in the Central Area, which was
predominately a middle and working-class neighborhood, though a few Stick style and Shingle style
houses were also built. These smaller, typically carpenter-built homes, are typically considered Queen
Anne cottages. Many of these cottages, as well as larger two-story dwellings, were often built from
pattern-book plans, which were widely distributed and used by carpenters and architects alike at the turn
of the century. After the turn of the century, classic boxes and other American Foursquare designs, as wellas Prairie style and Craftsman style homes, including bunglows, joined the Victorian era structures and
the use of pattern books continued and became even more common for middle and working class
dwellings throughout the city.
The Queen Anne style was a popular residential architectural style of the Victorian period from about
1880-1910. Identifying features of the style include a steeply pitched roof, often with a dominant front-
facing gable, and irregular plans. Wall surface treatments such as patterned shingles and projecting bay
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windows were employed to avoid a smooth-walled surface and facades were most often asymmetrical.
Porches were typically one-story and either extended partially across the front or often were full-width
and sometimes extended to one or both side walls. The more urban form was often a row-house type
apartment building, or flats typically configured as a duplex or fourplex.
Irregularities in plan were made possible by the adoption of the balloon framing techniques that became
widespread in the late 19th
century. This made it possible to incorporate bays, towers, overhangs and wall
insets or projections. Particularly characteristic are roof gables that overhang cutaway bay windows,
which occur in over half of all Queen Anne houses.
The most distinctive roof form of the style is a hipped roof with lower cross gables, which occurs in both
modest cottages and high-style examples. Other common roof forms include a cross-gabled roof, a front-
gabled roof, and a town-house or row-house type with gabled or flat roof forms. The most common type
of decorative detailing is spindlework ornamentation, typically employed in porch balustrades or as a
frieze suspended from the porch ceiling. Other subtypes, in addition to the common Spindlework type,
include Free Classic, with more Colonial Revival style supports rather than turned supports, Half-
Timbered, sharing more features similar to a Tudor style, and a Patterned Masonry type, a more high-style form employing patterned brickwork or stonework and relatively little wood detailing.
Door and window surrounds in Queen Anne houses tend to be simple and sashes usually have a single
pane of glass, although common elaborations include a single pane surrounded by small square panes on
one or more sides, or a single pane on the lower sash and patterned pane above. Doors commonly have
delicate decorative detailing and a single pane of glass in the upper portion. Gables are commonly
decorated with patterned shingles or sometimes more elaborate details.
In its original form, the Victorian House was a modest example of a Queen Anne style house, exhibiting a
rectangular or slightly irregular form with a cross-gable roof, an asymmetrical faade dominated by a
front-facing gable with a two-story canted bay and an inset front porch with spindlework support andfreize. Other stylistic features include the projecting box bay on the east side and details such as the
patterned shingles in the gables and bay roofs and other wall surface treatments on the projecting bays.
The one-over-one window sashes are also typical of the style and the primary front bay window with a
patterned transom above a single large pane was a common elaboration in window detail. In its current,
altered, form it retains an irregular form and asymmetrical faade and some features and details.
Examples of early Victorian architecture in the Central Area include a few that are designated Seattle City
Landmarks:
The 23rd Avenue Houses Group, 812-828 23rd Avenue (built1892-93); together designated aSeattle landmark in 1979.
A structure known as the Victorian House, at1414 S. Washington Street (built 1900), designatedat Seattle landmark in 1979.
The Yesler Houses, at 103, 107 and 109 23rd Avenue, as a group designated a Seattle landmarkin 1998.
Victorian Row Apartments, 1234 S. King Street, Built in 1891 on a nearby lot, moved to itspresent location in 1909 during the Jackson Street regrade, and rehabilitated 19921993.
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Victorian Row is Seattle's only remaining structurally unaltered 19th-century apartment building.
It is a Seattle City Landmark, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
See attachment B for photographs of the Landmarks listed here and examples of additional Victorian-era
residences located in the vicinity of East Madison Street and 16th Ave (All examples are located in less
than 1 mile of the Victorian House office building.)
Bibliography
City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Historical Sites Database;
http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/historicalsite/
City of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation website; http://www.seattle.gov/parks/
City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development, permit data.
HistoryLink.org: Seattle Neighborhoods: Central Area-Thumbnail History, (essay 3079) and related
essays. http://www.historylink.org/
King County Tax Assessor Files online property tax records
http://www5.kingcounty.gov/iMAP/viewer.htm?mapset=kcproperty
King County Tax Assessor Property Record Cards. Washigton State Archives, Puget Sound Regional
Branch
MacIntosh, Heather, Historic Preservation in the Central Area's Squire Park Neighborhood,
Preservation Seattle, October 2002: ( Historic Seattle PDA online magazine; archived):
http://www.historicseattle.org/preservationseattle/neighborhoods/defaultoct.htm
http://c/Users/User/Desktop/Pieces/%20Heather%20MacIntoshhttp://c/Users/User/Desktop/Pieces/%20Heather%20MacIntosh -
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McAlester, Virginia and Lee.A Field Guide to American Houses. New York : Knopf, 1984.
Ore, Janet. The Seattle Bungalow: People and Houses, 1900-1940. Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 2006.
Polk, R.L., Company, Polk Directory of Seattle, various years.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Seattle, c. 1893 ; c. 1900-1905.
Seattle Times:
Seattles Victorious Victorian, May 28, 2011 (Paul Dorpat).
Sheridan, Mimi. Historic Property Survey Report: Seattle's Neighborhood Commercial Districts,
(Context Statement), Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Preservation Program, 2002.
Veith, Thomas and Greg Lange. Early Neighborhood Historic Resources Report, (Context Statement),
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Preservation Program, 2005; rev.2009.
Veith, Thomas. History of the Central Area, (Context Statement), Seattle Dept. Of Neighborhoods,
Preservation Program, 2009.
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Attachment A
Attachment A
Vicinity Map / Current & Historic Photographs
(All current photos are by Beth Dodrill Consulting; April 2013 / Historic Photographs are from Property RecordCards, Historic Tax Assessors Files, Puget Sound Regional Archives)
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Attachment A
Vicinity Map
The Victorian House office building is located at 1523 East Madison Street in the northwest portion of the Central District, afew blocks east of the Pike/Pine/12th commercial core.
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Attachment A
Exterior Views
Photo A-1 Viewing Southwest from the corner of East Madison Street at 16th
Avenue East. The Victorian House is on the left side
of the photo
Photo A-2 Viewing northeast from the intersection of East Madison Street and 16th Avenue East.
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Attachment A
Photo A-3 Viewing northeast from the intersection of East Madison Street and 15th Avenue East.
Photo A- 4 Viewing west from mid-block at 16th Avenue East where the rear alley intersects.
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Attachment A
Photo A-5 The north elevation of the Victorian House building.
Photo A-6 The front, north elevation historic tax assessor file photo (July 1937).
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Attachment A
Photo A-7 The east elevation of the Victorian House.
Photo A-8 The east elevation from a historic tax assessor file (July 1985).
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Attachment A
Photo A- 9: The south elevation of the Victorian House building.
Photo A-10 The southwest corner of the building showing a partial view of the west elevation and the single-story shed-roof
addition.
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Attachment A
Photo A-11 The original entry, not currently in use, on the north elevation.
Photo A- 12 The current primary entry on the east elevation
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Attachment A
Interior Views
Photo A-13 First-floor entry reception area, facing east.
Photo A-14 First floor main office, facing north.
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Attachment A
Photo A-17 Office in southeast corner of the first floor.
Photo A- 18 Stair & landing in west side shed roof addition, facing north
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Attachment A
Photo A-19 Second floor hall, facing south
Photo A-20 Office on second floor in west-facing gable, facing west.
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Attachment B
Attachment B
Victorian Landmarks in the Central District /
Victorian Houses c.1890-1900 located in the Vicinity of the Victorian House
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Attachment B
Victorian Landmarks in the Central District
Photo B-1: The 23rd Avenue Houses Group, 812-828 23rd Avenue (built 1892-93)
(Photo DON : http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/central.htm)
Photo B-2: The Victorian House, at 1414 S. Washington Street (built 1900);
(Photo by Joe Mabel, April 2008: Wikimedia Commons:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-
_1414_S._Washington_03A.jpg)
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Attachment B
Photo B-3: The Yesler Houses, at 103, 107 and 109 23rd Avenue.
(Photo: Joe Mabel, November 2007: Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-
_houses_at_23rd_%26_Yesler.jpg)
Photo B-4: Victorian Row Apartments, 1234 S. King Street, Built in 1891;
(Photo: Joe Mabel, Wikepedia Commons:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_Victorian_Row_01.jpg)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_houses_at_23rd_%26_Yesler.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_houses_at_23rd_%26_Yesler.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_Victorian_Row_01.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_Victorian_Row_01.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_houses_at_23rd_%26_Yesler.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_houses_at_23rd_%26_Yesler.jpg -
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Attachment B
Victorian Houses c.1890-1900 located in the Vicinity of the Victorian House
All of these houses are in the DON Historical Sites Database and were included in a survey conducted between 2005-2009, which
identified significant buildings in residential neighborhoods that were constructed before 1906. All photos taken in May 2013 by
Beth Dodrill Consulting, unless otherwise noted. All are located with 1 mile of the subject property.
Photo B- 5: 1452 20th
Ave E / property tax # 7228501800 / built 1893
This one-story house exhibits Queen Anne cottage characteristics in its irregular form with a low hipped roof and
asymmetrical facade and details such as the prominent canted bay on the faade, the patterned upper sashes in the bay
windows, spindlework porch support and details with brackets in the eaves, and canted corner window to the right of
the recessed entry. Other windows are original one-over-one wood sash and the entry is an original wood door with
single light in the upper half that is typical of the style. Cladding is original clapboard. The flared eaves with enclosed
soffit with brackets exhibits influence of the earlier Italianate style, a style rarely found in existing residences in Seattle.
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Attachment B
Photo B- 6: 1433 20
th
Ave E / property tax # 7228502135 / built 1900
This one-story Queen Anne cottage has a low-hipped roof with a crossing pented gable on the north elevation and a
projecting gabled canted bay and all original Queen Anne style windows on the asymmetrical facade. The recessed entry
has original spindlework details and original wood door with a single pane window in the upper half. Other Queen Anne
characteristics include the decorative window detail and patterned shingles in the front gable and the treatment of the
gable eaves. Cladding is original wood clapboard.
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Attachment B
Photo B- 7: 1421 20th
Ave / property tax # 7228502145 / built 1899
This two-story house has an irregular plan with a hipped roof and crossing gables on the front, east and side, south
elevations the asymmetrical faade features a recessed porch entry with original wood panel door, divided sidelights
and column supports. The original second story porch above the entry has similar support columns. The projecting
canted bay on the faade has original one-over-one wood sash windows and a stained glass transom above the middle
window. Other windows are also original one-over-one wood sash. Cladding is original wood clapboard with patterned
shingles in the gables. With its Colonial Revival porch details, the house exhibits characteristics of the Queen Anne Free
Classic type.
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Attachment B
Photo B- 8: 826 20th
Ave / property tax # 9126100050 / built 1893
This two-story Queen Anne Spindlework house has an irregular plan with a central hipped roof with a crossing two-story
projecting gable bay on the north elevation and an asymmetrical faade with a crossing pented gable. The original entry
features a full-width front porch with a hipped roof supported by turned posts, spindlework details and original wood
door with a single pane light in the upper half. Windows are all original one-over-one wood sash including cut-away
windows under the projecting bay with carved bracket details on the overhanging corner eaves. Cladding is original
wood shiplap with patterned shingles in the gables. There is a one-and-half-story addition on the rear, east elevation.
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Attachment B
Photo B- 9: 1905 E Union / property tax # 7228502575 / built 1899
This one-story house has a hipped roof with a large crossing front-facing pented gable and clapboard cladding with
wood shingles in the gable. The original windows have been replaced with metal sashes. The recessed porch entry
features a turned post support and a wood door with a single light in the upper half. The house exhibits some
characteristics of a modest Queen Anne cottage but has alterations to the windows as well as the entry stairs.
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Attachment B
Photo B- 10: 724 21st
Ave / property tax # 9126101155 / built 1890
photo: King County Dept. of Assessments online property data
This two-story house is an excellent example of a restored high-style Queen Anne Spindlework house and is known as
the Brewer House for the family that first owned it and lived there. It has an irregular form with cross-gables and
projecting bays, an asymmetrical faade, original or restored Queen Anne style windows, including cutaway corner
windows below two-story bays on both side elevations, clapboard cladding with shingles in the gables and spindlework
details in the gables and on both the front two-story porch and a rear one-story porch on the northeast corner. The
current owners restored the house to its original character beginning in 1986. The house was featured in Paul Dorpats
Now and Then historical photographic series in the Seattle Times on May 28, 2011.
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Attachment C
Property Record Card / Historic Sanborn Maps
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Property Record Card (Puget Sound Regional Archives, 1937)
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Sanborn Map C. 1893
(Chestnut Street is 15th
Ave E & Hyde Street is 16th
Ave E)
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Sanborn Map c. 1900-1905
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Attachment D
Permit Drawings from DPD
1 sheet/site and floor plan/ 1972 conversion from SFR to Dental Clinic 7 sheets incl. cover sheet/ 1984 conversion from Dental Clinic to Victorian House office
building
And
Current Site Plan
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