Carmack House Exterior
September 2nd, 2008 @ 1:21 am by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings
Christine Palmer of Historic Seattle sounded the alarm recently via her preservation advocacy newsletter that the historic Carmack House at 1522 E. Jefferson is endangered. This is a significant property I’ve covered extensively here (see original post, interior photos Part 1, interior photos Part 2, and this update). Gretchen Luxenberg of the National Park Service writes:
The George Washington Carmack House at 1522 E. Jefferson Street is for sale and being offered as a 4,800 square foot lot (no mention of the house) in a neighborhood that has already lost all its single family residences due to Swedish/Providence hospital construction… The George Washington Carmack House at 1522 E. Jefferson Street is for sale and being offered as a 4,800 square foot lot (no mention of the house) in a neighborhood that has already lost all its single family residences due to Swedish/Providence hospital construction… The National Park Service believes it has sufficient integrity for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. It is privately owned and is being sold by Paragon (206-623-8880, Jon Breiner or Ed Hewson)… Because of its important association with George Carmack, NPS has initiated a National Register nomination form for the property which we were planning on giving to the property owner to pursue. At the time, the owner was supportive of the nomination and knew the value of the house. She passed away in 2006 and her heirs are now selling the house. The house will likely be demolished as it is surrounded by Swedish Hospital buildings and a parking garage. While it could make for a wonderful addition to Swedish’s building inventory, they are not in the business of preservation. NPS is not in a position to help this house as it is way beyond our authority to do this. We have always talked about how it could be an associated property for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park but it is outside of the Pioneer Square Historic District and the Park/NPS is limited in what it can do. I am hoping to raise awareness about this historic jewel, and hope that a sensitive buyer can be found. NPS would more than likely want to help interpret the history and significance of the place, if it can be saved. We would be happy to share the draft nomination form.
There’s also been coverage of this issue recently over at CentralDistrictNews as well as Crosscut. Given that I’ve already profiled the interior extensively (see links above), I stopped by this past weekend to zero in on the exterior details of this impressive Dutch Colonial (Shingle Style Arts and Crafts). Here are my photos — click on the thumbnails to view the full image.
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| Carmack House exterior with large Swedish medical building in the background. | Opposite angle of the home — now unfortunately tagged. Notice the wording on the for sale banner: “potential medical office building.” |
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| Large porch columns support the cornice brackets. | Close-up of the hip-roofed dormer with bay window. |
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| Roofline with shed-roofed dormer. | Alternate angle of dormer bay window. |
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| Alternate dormer/porch view. | These porch windows line the front living area with fireplace. |
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| Alternate angel of front porch bay. | Back of the home. You can see that the right-most portion was an addition. |
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| Back corner of the home, with detached garage in background. | Corner of home showing clapboard and brick foundation. |
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| Bay window with 16-over-1 double hung sash. | The second floor of the home is clad in wood shingles. |
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| Exterior yard fence detail. | Spying the back yard — basement windows have been boarded up. |
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| Stained glass window from the living room. | Alternate angle of second floor shingles, along west side of the home. |
September 2nd, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Sad that someone “tagged” it and that it has fallen into such a state.
September 2nd, 2008 @ 8:16 pm
This house would be awesome if it were renovated into medical offices. Carson City is full of that kind of adaptive reuse; many of the old houses are now offices for doctors, lawyers, and engineers, and they look better now than they have in decades. I’m lucky enough to work in one. It would take a doctor with some vision, though, to commit to fixing it up rather than tearing it down.
September 4th, 2008 @ 7:10 am
Unfortunately, at the sale price of 1.25 million, it seems unlikely that the house will be bought by someone who is looking for a house to live in. This house is a great rehabilitation candidate for adaptive re-use, especially if it is turned into multi-family housing or a commercial building, because then it would qualify for NPS tax credits.
September 7th, 2008 @ 9:08 am
If all fails in preserving the house in situ, I wonder if there is any possibility of moving the house to a new lot spmewhere nearby and restoring it there, perhaps closer to downtown?
(I’m thinking over by the Frye, St. James Cathedral, etc.).
It might make a lovely small events venue in the evenings, like the Stimson Bullitt manse, as well as being an ancillary site for the Klondike Gold Rush national park…
Chamber music? Small weddings?
September 7th, 2008 @ 11:52 pm
Julie: Good call. I think they are entertaining that.
http://www.nickelbros.com/0715224.html