While there isn't an exact definition of what it takes for a house to be considered iconic, this home earns top credentials in a minimum of three categories: neighborhood, block, and timeless architecture. In its early boom in the shadow of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Wallingford, fueled by expanding streetcar lines, attracted industrious and community-minded residents. In 1910, J.E. Austin had his home constructed to sit proudly on the corner of Bagley and 41st. Built primarily in the American Foursquare style (aka the "Seattle Box"), designer F.F. Travis adorned its design with a variety of styles, including craftsman, prairie, neoclassical, and late Queen Anne detailing. But all of that is history. 116 years later she stands stately and true, one of five intact Seattle classics that line this block, shoulder to shoulder. It's the scale inside the house that will catch you first--the shimmering excess of light and space. This is a home where people gather, where celebrations are held, where evenings filled with jazz and the "good wine" happen. It's where you trade the rush of the city for the hush of rolling tree-lined streets, somehow right at the edge of everything yet delightfully detached from it. Four blocks north is the bustle of 45th (hello dumplings, Pilates, and Molly Moon's), one block to Irwin's Neighborhood Bakery & Cafe, and six short blocks to Lake Union and Gas Works Brewing. Have a boat? You can walk to it! It's fair to say this house IS Wallingford.
