by Margaret Riddle
Built in the winter of 1891-1892, the Swalwell Cottage is likely the oldest residence in Everett to have retained its original exterior design. It was one of the city’s first structures to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the recognition given for its connection to the early pioneering Swalwell family, architect Frederick Sexton and the home’s architectural character. The Swalwell Cottage is a survivor.
George Swalwell, his seven sons and their families were living in Canada when they heard about development in the Puget Sound region leading to Washington statehood in 1889. Son William scouted the area a few years earlier and liked what he saw at Port Gardner Bay. He was soon followed by the rest of the family who purchased a large amount of land on the east side of the peninsula that became Everett. In partnership with Wyatt and Bethel Rucker and Frank and Edward Friday, the Swalwells intended to build a town. When east coast investors had bigger plans, the Swalwells were well positioned to benefit. Setting up Swalwell Land Loan and Trust company in a temporary wooden structure on Riverside, the brothers began selling lots, clearing land and building commercial and residential structures.
Frederick A. Sexton had pitched a tent in Riverside during the city’s initial boom and he soon became the dominant architect on the east side of town. Designed by Sexton, the Swalwell Cottage was one of two small houses built side by side. Its twin is no longer standing, torn down to build a duplex. The first occupant of the cottage was Albert W. Swalwell. He passed the home on to his brother Wellington who lost it in the depression that followed the Panic of 1893.
The Swalwell Cottage is a mix of styles — Queen Anne with features of Stick and Shingle design. Its lower portion is of horizontal shiplap and end boards while the upper portion is shingled with a frieze. Band molding unites the two. Little alteration was made to the cottage’s exterior over the years, aside from composition materials covering a shake roof, concrete stairs replacing wooden ones and a shed roof enclosure on the back that could be either an addition or an enclosed porch. The house interior followed a usual cottage plan.
Jim and Darlene Thompson bought the much-neglected house in the 1970s and began to lovingly restore it to its original beauty and when fire nearly destroyed it in the 1990s, the Thompsons once again came to its rescue.
To find out more about this home, the Swalwell family and Everett’s Riverside neighborhood, see the Self-Guided Walking Tours on the Historic Everett website at www.historiceverett.org.
