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Overview

Seattle architects Paul Thiry, Sr. and Alban Shay designed this 2.5-story residence in Seattle, WA's Leschi neighborhood for Dr. Loren G. Shroat and his wife Blanche Jackson. It was completed in 1937 in a stark Modern style unfamiliar to most Seattle residents of the time. Paul Thiry was one of the earliest Modern architects working in the city and was known, during the 1930s, for his educational efforts to teach Seattleites about Modern architecture.

Building History

In 1940, a physician and surgeon, Dr. Loren Gerald Shroat (born 09/28/1887 in Broken Bow, NE-d. 06/14/1964 in Seattle, WA) and his wife Blanche Gertude Jackson Shroat (born c. 1889 in DE-d. 08/30/1957 in Seattle, WA) resided at this address with her father, Peter Jackson (born c. 1865 in DE) and a household worker, Esther E. Jusola (born c. 1918 in WA). According to the 1940 US Census, this unusual house had a value of $18,000. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04382; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 40-287, accessed 04/22/2024.)

They wed on 08/06/1921 in Seattle, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc79063, accessed 04/22/2024.) He may have married Blanche twice. On 12/24/1913, a "Loren G. Shroat" married Blanche Bousman in Huntsville, MO. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm], accessed 04/22/2024.) Either Shroat married two different women named Blanche or he married Blanche first in 1913 and again in 1921. In the meantime, a Loren Shroat was listed on a birth certificate in Butte, MT, having a child, Glenn William Ditto (03/22/1918 in Butte, MT-d. 08/06/1944 in Saint-Malo, France) with Katherine Edna Young on 03/12/1918. (She also went by the name of "Katherine Edna Ditto." See Ancestry.com Source Citation Montana State Historical Society; Helena, Montana; Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1830-2011, accessed 04/22/2024.) It is likely that he married Blanche Jackson in 1913, separated from her, met Katherine, had a son with her in 1918, married her in 1920, separated from her and reunited with Blanche in 1921. At the very end of his life, he married once more to Virginia Belle Locke Sundbom on 09/18/1963 in Montesana, WA. (See Grays Harbor County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1871-Present - Loren J Shroat - Virginia B Sundborn, Grays Harbor County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1871-Present, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 04/22/2024.)

Prior to building this house, he and Blanche lived at 822 24th Avenue South in Seattle. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1926, p. 1340.)

The Shroats continued to live in this house at 530 30th Avenue South in 1950. They lived with a "part-time maid," Lillian Matsuura (born c. 1927 in Japan) at this time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: 3075; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 40-783, accessed 04/22/2024.) Loren still lived here in 1958, although Blanche died the year before. In 1958, he had his medical office at 1424 4th Avenue, Room #727. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1958, p. 1402.)

Donald A. and Jeanne Devitte owned the house from at least 2004 until 02/02/2007, when they sold it to Hermann Schenk and Mary Pinder for $1,180,000. Two years later, on 05/14/2009, Schenk sold it to Jeffrey S. Carlin and Diane S. Kroll for $1,142,000. (See King County, Department of Assessment.gov, "Parcel Data for Parcel #125020-1525," accessed 04/22/2024.)

Building Notes

The Schroat House occupied a 7,500-square-foot (0.17-acre) lot in 2024.

PCAD id: 25159