Today I have been pondering the fact some of my clients are interested in certain neighborhoods for their assets such as walkability, schools, etc., while others are looking for a lifestyle/vacation property or certain style of home.

Like many cities, Seattle’s older neighborhoods are characterized by the styles of the time which might include Bungalows and Craftsman style homes made from dense, solid wood from the original old growth trees found here in the late eighteen hundreds when the Denny party first began settling Seattle. Queen Anne and Capitol Hill have these characteristic styles, along with brick Tudor and what is often referred to as the Seattle Box.

As the city grew, and time progressed, we eventually see Mid-Century Modern, Ranbler and Split Entry (Split Level) homes. These won’t all be found in the older, core neighborhoods, but more likely further out. For example, Edmonds and Marysville have entire neighborhoods of Split Entry homes. 

Back in the day when I was an EMT/Firefighter we had a class on fighting fires in different style homes. New homes, it was pointed out, are built with “skinny two-by-fours”, versus the old homes built with large sections of wood. In the real estate industry, we also call these “stick built”.

This construction can also come into play when buying a home to fix up, and why many homes are referred to as having “good bones”. 

More recently we have seen the advent of rezoning, and a trend of developers who take down single Craftsman homes and replace them with four townhomes. There is also a new trend of parceling one property into two condominium lots and building a detached accessory dwelling or DADU. This satisfies the need for more housing in the denser neighborhoods.

The long-and-short of it is that it could be hard to match the style and neighborhood, although not impossible; it just may take more time.

Please fill-out this intake form and connect with me on my multiple listing app and we can get started on our search!