Sometimes referred to as the Speakeasy House, here’s a rundown of the history of the 1924 Mission Revival house at 503 North 42nd St. from local historian Valarie Bunn. You can also read more here about the house from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
503 North 42nd Street (Celdon F. Martin House)
The house at the southeast corner of 42nd and Dayton is distinctive Mission Revival style. It may remind you of the Fremont Branch Library which is also built in this Spanish-style with a tile roof, stucco walls and black iron railings.
The house was built in 1924 by Celdon Foster Martin, born in 1880 in Boston. He came to Seattle in the early 1900s and worked his way up from carpentry to become the president of a general contracting company. At the time that the house at 503 North 42nd Street was built, the Martin family were living on the south side of it at 4120 Dayton Avenue.
The house has a concrete foundation and full concrete basement level. The daylight basement has a very large room which may have been a ballroom, as it has maple floors. The main level of the house has large rooms with oversize doors.
The basement room has a bar, which may have given rise to the rumor of a speakeasy operating out of this house. During Prohibition from 1916 to 1934, a speakeasy could mean that invited guests who knew the password, could enter and enjoy illicit alcohol consumption. Whether or not this was true, the Speakeasy House has retained its attractiveness with brick windowsills, the projecting entry porch with gable roof and arched opening, and accent details such as exposed rafter ends and ornate barge boards at the roofline.
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