Our Seattle Craftsman

In 2006, we moved to Seattle and bought a 1925 craftsman home. The home is in the Mt Baker area of Seattle which was designed by the Olmsted Brothers at the turn of the 20th century.

We've been able to trace much of ths history of the house prior to us by researching the local archives. In 1906, the land was purchased for the home by the (Almaquo Timber) Tract Company. In 1927, the house was purcahsed by Millard M May, a prominent Vice President and Tresurer of the US Bond and Mortgage Company. Millard worked from the home and the phone number for the home then was 0880. Millard and his wife Alice came up north from their home state of Kentucky and had a son Thomas a year before moving into the house. Along with Millard, Alice and Thomas lived Nellie Bailey, a private servant from Illinois who helped manage the home.



There is little information about how long the family stayed but in 1935, the home was purchased by Julius C and Mattie Cohn. Julius' profession, per the 1939 Polk directory was salesman. The couple stayed in the house until 1940 when the home was purchased by Ralph and Gretchen Cade. Ralph's father, had been a steamboat captain in Washington and Ralph was an oiler and subsequently a shipfitter when he and Gretchen started their family in Seattle.





The Cades stayed in the home until the early 1940s when the Victor and Sarah Behar purchased the house and raised three daughters. The Cades stayed in the home until they were in their 80's. Victor passed away in 1985 and Sarah 1989. The house was sold to Heather Salling in 1985 and subsequently to Robert Mintz and Beth Arman in 1995. Rob and Beth stayed in the home until 2006, when we moved from Boston and purchased the home.




We continue to research the history of the families who lived in the home prior to us. Along the way, we have found some interesting artifacts in the home fin the many families who have lived here. It turns out that the chimney had not been cleaned since 1925 and that the families, at least until midcentury, would dump their trash/broken dishes in the backyard. So below are some of the more interesting pieces that we have found. Perhaps the most shocking piece that we found while reconstructing the front yard is an old pistol that looks likt it may have been a Colt.



See below some of the artifacts dated from 1929 on.