Houses of Maple Leaf

6/13/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A couple of years ago I began a series of sketches to document the architectural styles of my Maple Leaf neighborhood. Most were “portraits” of individual houses I found especially charming or that exemplified the various styles I see around here. I usually stood directly across the street, and on warm, sunny mornings, it was sheer delight (and extremely challenging, I might add) to spend close to an hour trying to capture these homes.

I continued the series last year, and my intention was to keep going this summer. But now I don’t feel I should stand on the sidewalk for an hour while pedestrians may be trying to get past me safely. Stepping 6 feet away each time I see someone coming is difficult to do while sketching.

I’m undeterred, however. I am taking notes on houses that face in directions that I can find safe spots to stand for a while. And I have also changed my approach to this series. The sketches do not all have to be color portraits as I have made in the past. Quick, small sketches also tell a story, especially when shown together.

Above are three small sketches I made while standing on the corner of Northeast 80^th Street and Fourth Avenue Northeast. Eightieth is a busy, noisy arterial that leads to the freeway entrance, so pedestrians rarely walk where I stood. Within 15 minutes, I simply pivoted to make each sketch. I’ll let you decide which one is not like the others, but they all tell the story of Maple Leaf architectural styles.

Houses of Maple Leaf

5/30/18

Unlike Queen Anne, Capitol Hill or other areas where you can still find grand, stately homes, Maple Leaf is more of a working-class neighborhood. Houses here tend to be modest one- or two-storied Tudors and American Craftsman styles that would be considered too small by contemporary standards. To get a second bathroom, people have to add on a dormer or, more likely these days, tear down the original and build a new larger house.

4/23/18

5/7/18

As a Maple Leaf resident for more than 30 years, I’ve seen many changes, but most of them have happened in the past decade or so. When a new house started going up last spring just a block away, I realized I couldn’t remember exactly what the house that it replaced looked like . . . probably just another small Craftsman that had been there for a century (our own Craftsman is nearly that old).

4/24/18

5/3/18

Whenever I travel, everything seems exotic, even ordinary homes, yet the houses in my own neighborhood seem too familiar to sketch. But suddenly I was saddened that I couldn’t even recall the house that had been torn down – one I had passed nearly every day.

4/26/18

6/12/18

During the past spring and summer, I decided to spend much of my sketching time walking around in my own ‘hood to observe the different kinds of architecture and generally appreciate the older houses I take for granted. In fact, the presence of small, older houses is a big reason we chose to live here, and I wanted to preserve them in my sketchbook before more are torn down. You can see the whole series on my personal blog. Shown here are some of my favorites. The last one is the new house (still under construction six months later; please note the size of the houses next to it).

8/29/18

Rainier Tower

One of the neat things about working in the heart of downtown Seattle is that you are experiencing the growth of the city firsthand. One of the larger developments currently underway is the Rainier Square on Union St. between 4th and 5th Avenue. Demolition of the old Rainier Square building revealed the base of adjacent Rainier Tower in all its glory. Designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki (also the architect of IBM Building and Pacific Science Building in Seattle, and of course the original World Trade Center), this building has fascinated me since the first time I saw it due to its unusual inverted tapered curving base. Since I work only a block away, I've been witnessing the 'unveiling' process of the tower base as the adjacent building went down brick by brick.

I figured that this view will not last, since a new tower will soon be built right next to it. I decided to do a couple of quick sketches from two different angles. The first one was taken from 5th Avenue between Union and Pike st. looking south.

Rainier Tower, sketched from 5th Avenue between Union and Pike looking south

Rainier Tower, sketched from 5th Ave looking south

 A couple of days later, I stood at a corner of Union st. and 4th Ave and sketched the tower from a slightly different angle.

Rainier Tower, sketched from 4th Ave between Union and Pike looking south

Rainier Tower, sketched from 4th Ave looking south