Landmark Nomination Report Wagner Floating Home
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Landmark Nomination Report Wagner Floating Home Property Location 2770 Westlake Avenue N Seattle, King County, Washington December 30, 2020 Clients Richard & Colleen Wagner Family 2770 Westlake Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109 & Historic Seattle 1117 Minor Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 Prepared by Sarah J. Martin SJM Cultural Resource Services 3901 2nd Avenue NE #202 Seattle, WA 98105 [email protected] Wagner Floating Home December 30, 2020 Seattle Landmark Nomination Report page 3 CONTENTS 1. Property Information ............................................................................................................... 4 2. Introduction - Background & Methodology ............................................................................. 5 3. Physical & Architectural Description ........................................................................................ 7 A. Setting & Site ...................................................................................................................... 7 B. Structure & Cabin Exterior .................................................................................................. 9 C. Cabin Interior .................................................................................................................... 12 4. Historical Information & Significance...................................................................................... 15 A. Lake Union & Neighborhood Context .............................................................................. 15 B. Seattle’s Floating Homes .................................................................................................. 18 C. Property History ............................................................................................................... 25 5. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 28 6. Index of Maps, Images, & Drawings ....................................................................................... 32 Appendix A: Maps & Aerial Imagery ............................................................................................. 35 Appendix B: Historic Images ......................................................................................................... 43 Appendix C: Field Photographs ..................................................................................................... 59 Appendix D: Drawings .................................................................................................................. 80 Wagner Floating Home December 30, 2020 Seattle Landmark Nomination Report page 4 1. PROPERTY INFORMATION Historic Name: Wagner Floating Home Other Names: Wagner Houseboat; The Old Boathouse Address: 2770 Westlake Avenue N, Seattle, King County, Washington Location: The Old Boathouse Condominium near Aurora Bridge Parcel Number: 635195-0100 Plat & Unit The Old Boathouse / Unit 10 Section/Twp/Range: NW S19-T25-R04 Lat/Long Coordinates: 47.645632, -122.346663 USGS Quadrangle: Seattle North, Washington UTM Coordinates: Zone 10T E 549068, N 5277121 Date of Construction: ca. 1910 Designers: Unknown Builders: Unknown Developer / Orig. Owner: Unknown Historic Use: Recreational: boathouse; Domestic: year-round residence; Recreational: boat livery Present Use: Domestic: year-round residence Present Owner: Houseboat Estate of Richard & Colleen Wagner c/o David and Michael Wagner 2770 Westlake Avenue N #10, Seattle, WA 98109 Moorage The Old Boathouse Cooperative c/o James Schermer, President 2770 Westlake Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109 Legal Description: The Wagner Floating Home is described as follows, according to King County property records recorded in 2017: Unit 10, The Old Boathouse Condominium, formerly known as Hulls Moorings, a condominium, according to the declaration thereof recorded under King County Recording No. 9508010450, and any amendments thereto; said unit is located on survey map and plans filed in Volume 126 of Condominium Plats, page(s) 25 through 7, amended by instrument recorded under Volume 159 of Condominium Plats, page(s) 75 and 76, in King County, Washington; except any floating home which may be located thereon. (See image D2) Wagner Floating Home December 30, 2020 Seattle Landmark Nomination Report page 5 2. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND This Landmark Nomination Report provides information regarding the design, construction, change over time, and history of the Wagner Floating Home. Located along the Lake Union shore at the north end of the Queen Anne neighborhood, the privately owned residence is part of the cooperatively owned dock known as The Old Boathouse, at 2770 Westlake Avenue N, Seattle, King County, Washington. Built ca. 1910, the Wagner Floating Home is among the city’s oldest extant houseboats and is believed to have begun as a seasonal clubhouse for a recreational canoe club on Lake Washington at Madison Park. Little is known of its early history, such as who built it, owned it, or when it was moved to Lake Union. Contextual history and later secondary sources suggest the houseboat probably left Lake Washington around 1938 when regulatory actions by the City of Seattle essentially drove houseboats off the lake. Once on Lake Union, it transitioned to functioning as a residence and was probably updated to accommodate year-round living. In 1946, the houseboat was the subject of a Life magazine feature showcasing it as the home of Charles Barnes and his young family (see images B4 to B9 and B26 to B28). It functioned as a rental home for a period until newlyweds Richard (Dick) and Colleen Wagner made it their permanent family home in 1965. The Wagners managed a boat livery at the residence called The Old Boathouse, from 1968 to 1980, that later became the Center for Wooden Boats. The Wagners sought and received National Register of Historic Places designation for their floating home in 1982. Dick died in 2017 and Colleen had started the Seattle landmark process when she died in 2020. Their sons Michael and David, with the assistance and support of Historic Seattle, are seeing this process through as they fix up and prepare to sell the longtime family residence. This report was prepared on behalf of the Wagners and Historic Seattle to ensure the City of Seattle Historic Preservation staff and Landmarks Preservation Board have sufficient information to facilitate an objective review of the property’s integrity and significance. METHODOLOGY Consulting historian Sarah Martin completed the research and drafting of this report between July and November 2020, with assistance from colleague Florence Lentz. Research included a review of the Wagner family’s records and the collections of the Center for Wooden Boats (CWB) and correspondence with the City of Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections Public Resource Center, Washington State Archives Puget Sound Regional Branch, and the University of Washington Libraries and Special Collections. Additional research included Wagner Floating Home December 30, 2020 Seattle Landmark Nomination Report page 6 interviews and correspondence with individuals, review of secondary-source literature, and review of numerous online collections, including the City of Seattle’s Historic Resources Survey Database, Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s WISAARD database, Seattle Municipal Archives, Washington State Archives, Seattle Public Library and its Seattle Times Historical Archive, and Newspapers.com. Martin and Lentz conducted a field survey of the Wagner Floating Home on July 10, September 28, and November 20. The survey included photographic documentation and visual inspection of the setting, property, building exterior, and building interior. Martin made a follow-up visit to review the Wagner family collections on August 6 and took photographs of the property from the water on August 15. Wagner Floating Home December 30, 2020 Seattle Landmark Nomination Report page 7 3. PHYSICAL & ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Homes on the water take many forms, including live-aboard boats, house barges, and floating homes, and all are distinct in their construction and design. Collectively and commonly referred to as houseboats, it is the floating home type that is the subject of this application. A floating home is a house built on a float that is semi-permanently moored to a dock that is often shared with other homes. It has no means of independent mobility and therefore is connected to land only by its sewer and utility hookups. The term floating home has been used in Seattle since the late 1950s and early 1960s when the City began regulating houseboats and the community formed the Floating Homes Association. Summary The Wagner Floating Home is a rare example of an intact early twentieth century Seattle houseboat, built prior to 1912. Since the late 1930s, it has remained at its location at the foot of the Aurora Bridge at the northwest end of Lake Union. Its prime lakefront orientation at the end of its dock, with open water to the rear that once served as the first home of the Center for Wooden Boats, is unchanged since the mid-1960s. The dimensions and basic construction materials of the floating platform and cabin are in place, as are the overall cabin massing and roof configurations, with deck overhangs on all four sides. On the exterior, the original siding, doors, and most windows are extant. The arrangement of interior spaces remains unchanged, and floor, wall, and ceiling