Tear Down of 4134 Beach Drive SW

This home that was built in 1913 located at 4134 Beach Drive Southwest, Seattle has had permits filed for quite a while for bigger plans than a single-family. We’ve walked by this home for years wondering “when” it was going to happen. Scupper posted about this home to celebrate it’s 100th birthday .
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Here’s the property as it stands as of April 13, 2025.

The current plans for this property appear to be a 3-story 9-unit apartment building.

105 Year-Old Home Torn Down on Beach Drive

The home that was originally on 4714 SW Beach Drive was built in 1920. The gentleman who lived there was known by many as Eddy. We knew him as someone who loved to fish, garden and bird watching. He was always there with a helping hand. His original beach cottage home was sold after his passing. Below is the property as of April 13, 2025.

The building permit shows that a new two-story single-family dwelling will be on this lot.

4209 Beach Drive SW

The home once located at 4209 Beach Drive SW was owned by an actress, Nancy Kilgas. Nancy was in several films, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma.

The home on Beach Drive has seemed abandoned since we’ve lived here (about 20 years). We used to walk by it and wonder about the stories the old home could have told once upon a time. I know I have more photos of it that I’ve taken…and when/if I find them, I’ll add them to this post.

Photo below added 4/13/2025… I’ll keep adding photos I find. As of April 13, 2025, construction has not yet started.

It has recently been demolished and it appears there will be three homes (townhomes) put in it’s place.


With the recent changes to zoning in Washington state, you can expect more single-unit homes to be demolished for multi-unit homes.

Major Road/Gas Line Project on Beach Drive

A tip of the hat to our neighbors who let us know West Seattle Blog recently uncovered major project on Beach Drive to replace sections of the gas main.

From West Seattle Blog:

Puget Sound Energy will be replacing 5,049 feet of a gas main line on Beach Dr. SW. starting in May with work expected to last about 90 days.

This is part of a project to improve the infrastructure in the area and provide safe and reliable natural gas service.

During the project, about 100 customers will have their gas turned off due to a service replacement of their line or their service lines being reconnected to the new gas main.

When possible, the gas main installation will be directional drilled to limit some of traffic issues on that street.

PSE is working with the Seattle Department of Transportation and will use flaggers to keep traffic moving.

All customers impacted will be notified before their service is interrupted.

On a positive note, maybe this will help detour some of the speeders and traffic we get on Beach Drive.

Fire at Beach Drive Home

UPDATE 2:39 AM: Nobody home at the time of the fire.

This home is the historic “chicken coop” home on Beach Drive, reported to be the oldest home on the street. The home is just north of the duplex that was once Quesnel’s Restuarant.

 

A fire has been put out at 4701 Beach Drive SW. We hope everyone is safe. (Originally reported as 4703 Beach Drive per SFD’s 911 website).

Another Tear Down on Beach Drive

This 107 year old home located at 4022 Beach Drive Southwest will soon be demolished. Two duplexes are scheduled to be built on this lot across the street from Weather Watch Park.

Beach Drive Home to be Demolished

This home on the 4700 block of Beach Drive is set to be demolished early next week to make way for a new single unit dwelling.
We actually sold the home to the current owner knowing it would be torn down. The home has been added on over the years and has some issues that are beyond reasonable repair. While in our ownership, the home was a short-term rental that we named “Beach Drive Bungalow” that enjoyed hosting people from West Seattle to all over the world.

The home was originally built in 1926 and looks completely different from the home it is today. As the story goes, the home was built by a sea captain to live in while building the neighboring home to the north.
The home continued to be modified over the years.
We enjoyed the few years we were able to share the home as a vacation rental with others. If not for the Seattle City Council no longer allowing waterfront homes to be short term rentals (as a way to help affordable housing?) we would probably still have the home as a vacation rental. The home held family reunions, birthday celebrations and even a beautiful wedding ceremony at the bulkhead.

Thanks for the memories, Beach Drive Bungalow!

Another viewpoint on the Beach Drive Stay Healthy Street

Recently we received Councilmember Lisa Herbold’s newsletter addressing the potential permanent closure to the stretch of road along Alki Point. It has been roughly one year since the streets along Alki point have been closed.

From her newsletter:

“The vast majority of people contacting me are very interested in making the Alki Keep it Moving Street a permanent “Stay Healthy Street” which would result in roads being closed to through traffic. Neighbors have surveyed users of the Keep it Moving Street over the last few months. You can see some of their results in the graph below.

Honestly I find it hard to believe that there was zero opposition to the survey that was done by the neighbors who will benefit from the street being closed to traffic. Just check out the comments on West Seattle Blog’s post and you’ll read from people who are not in favor of the permanent closure. There is no viable place for parking should one need or want to drive to visit the park with parking already limited in surrounding neighborhoods. This seems to benefit those who live closest to the closed street along Alki point and is a disadvantage to those who rely on transportation to go to Constellation Park or Alki Light House.

We live on Beach Drive south of the proposed permanent stay healthy street. We’ve walked our dog along that stretch of park for the past 8 years nearly every day. Through the past year, it has been nice to be able to stay 6’ away from others while walking this stretch during the pandemic. But now, vaccinations have put people back onto the several sidewalks that line the stretch. The street appears to have served it’s purpose and is now reaching historical normalcy.

Over the years, we have spoken to several neighbors along that stretch of Constellation Park and sympathize with them over the car clubs that inhabit the parking strip along the park, crank their tunes, leave garbage behind & rev their engines. Being in close proximity to Alki point is a very well known risk to living there.

It’s our opinion that that this Summer phenomenon is not the 100% reason this neighborhood has rallied together in effort close the street off permanently to these street racing enthusiasts. Problem is, we’re starting to inherit these enthusiasts along Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook about a half mile south. The park has just received an overhaul with additional lower sidewalks that mirror the physical layout of the Alki Keep it moving site along Constellation Park. As soon as the temporary fencing is pulled out of the newly constructed seawall section of Emma Schmitz Memorial, the neighbors along this stretch fully expect to have the same issues our neighbors to the north have experienced for the last 5 or so years.

Moving a problem is not a good solution. The vaccination efforts are working to restore the stretch along Constellation Park to it’s prior status as a public thoroughfare near busy Alki Beach. Perhaps consistent traffic/parking enforcement is the answer.

Walking the newly closed Beach Drive for Stay Healthy Streets

This morning, after writing about a portion of Beach Drive being closed, my hubby (aka our intrepid reporter, Scupper) and I decided to check out the newly closed road along Constellation Park. I actually did not expect the closure to include Alki Avenue to 63rd (the intersection by Cactus).


Vehicle traffic was definitely reduced. Gone are the cruisers and car clubs hanging out along the sidewalk.


64th was the only side street that I noticed was blocked.


This stretch of Beach Drive is no stranger to cars peeling out. The City has tried passing noise ordinances for this area but I doubt it’s been successful. Neighbors we talked to are pretty pleased with this stretch being closed.


I don’t know if I’ve ever seen open parking on a warm sunny day along Alki Avenue.
The closure stretches all the way from Alki Avenue at 62nd to Beach Drive and 62nd. There were still a handful of cars (possibly residents), driving along with bicyclists, skateboards (some motorized) and all sorts of wheeled contraptions mixed with people walking or jogging in the street.

It’s a new experience to walk down the street…it’s a bit liberating. It’s also a lot easier to keep the “safe six” feet away from others.  There are a lot of cars from residents along Alki Avenue to Beach Drive where there are condos, apartments and street parking for houses. This stretch is still very popular (and may become even more so) with bicyclist and joggers. If you’re wearing ear-buds, you may need a shoulder-mounted-rear-view-mirror!

It will be interesting to see how this evolves as bicyclist and resident cars, service/delivery vehicles and rule-avoiders are now dealing with people walking in the Mayor’s new “Stay Healthy Street”.

Please stay safe and be kind! This is a new experience for all of us.

Send us your Beach Drive Halloween Pics!

This neighbor’s scary yard captured our dog’s attention on our walk today.

Hitch losing a scary stare down with three black cats!

If you have a spooktacular yard, kiddo or pets (or you!) in costume or a favorite Halloween recipe that you would like to share with your Beach Drive neighbors, give us a howl!