Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
The final phase of five storybook homes at Fort Lawton’s “Officer’s Row” are now under restoration and will be released for sale this month. These magical properties are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a fortunate few. Resales may be possible but Stephanie McMahon, Sales Director for The Homes at Fort Lawton believes most will become family heirlooms passed down to future generations.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
Officer’s Row was a former residence for many of the military’s most senior officers until Fort Lawton was closed in 1973. Much of what was once Fort Lawton was donated to the City of Seattle and became what is now Discovery Park. Excluded from the public donation is the nine acres of land surrounding the two residential communities known as Montana Circle and Officer’s Row.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
Shared common areas for Officer’s Row include a community pea-patch and vegetable garden, a fire pit and two playgrounds for children within the neighborhood. Interior features include all-new plumbing and electrical systems with hydronic heating on the main floor and low-profile radiators on other levels. The kitchens boast new cabinets, quartz countertops and a full appointment of premium Miele appliances with gas cooking.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
As if living in a gorgeous house in Discovery Park with a view of Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains isn’t already enough of a benefit, the preserved homes qualify for a property tax credit for the next ten years, which means owners can save thousands of dollars per year.
Guided by developer RISE properties, Seattle’s architectural firm GGLO lead the restoration plan and the team worked with the Landmarks Preservation Board to make exterior improvements such as seismic upgrades, new roofs, new yellow paint (matching historical records) and extensive landscaping.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
Just listed on Officer’s Row is a spectacular home called Prosch Plan at 4218 Washington Avenue. One lucky owner can move in right away for a cool $2.1 million. This historic home offers 4,088 square feet of living space comprising four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms and is built upon a large 27,303 square foot lot with a new two-car, detached garage.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
“This Prosch Plan is among the final opportunities to own at Fort Lawton,” said Stephanie McMahon, Sales Director for The Homes at Fort Lawton. Out of 26-total homes, only five remain available for private ownership and several are currently reserved by prospective homebuyers that have been waiting for their homes to be restored. “These last few homes are it,” she added. “They are grandfathered landmarks and no further development possibilities exist within Discovery Park”
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
One majestic house, named “Lady Willy” features a generous front porch and formal living and dining rooms. Lady Willie Forbus was one of the first women to practice law in Seattle and the first to represent the 44th District in the state senate. A resident of Magnolia, she was nicknamed the Steel Magnolia for her tenacious advocacy of children’s rights and equal opportunity for women. A single mother for many of her years in the senate, Lady Willie was a former board member of the Friends of Discovery Park. She died at 100 years old in 1993.
Photo: Fort Lawton Homes
The Ellicott Plan, a six bedroom and four and a half bathroom estate comprising 6,278 square feet on a 15,623 square foot lot is also up for sale starting at $2.9 million. The General’s house, a 6,656 square foot property, went pending earlier this week for $3.75 million.
These incredible homes follow an earlier release at Montana Circle – a collection of thirteen homes on Fort Lawton ranging in size from 1,675 to 1,995 square feet, which closed between $800,000 and $1.2 million. The Homes at Officer’s Row are considerably larger.
In October of last year, Fort Lawton suffered a fire at one of the empty, unoccupied homes. The home was a duplex, located on the north side of Officer’s Row and was in the final stages of renovation. The fire was ruled an accident by the Seattle Fire Department.
You can register online to view the homes on Officer’s Row at an open house this weekend, March 3rd through the 5th, from 11am to 5pm daily.
