405 South Sheridan Avenue

Architect Silas Nelsen, and his wife Gerda, owned two building lots on South Sheridan, and had originally planned to build the garage before the home was constructed. The Colonial Revival house at 405 South Sheridan Avenue was selected as one of the ten most beautiful homes in Tacoma by the Tacoma Society of Architects in 1931.

Architect Silas Nelsen, and his wife Gerda, owned two building lots on South Sheridan, and had originally planned to build the garage before the home was constructed. The Colonial Revival house at 405 South Sheridan Avenue was selected as one of the ten most beautiful homes in Tacoma by the Tacoma Society of Architects in 1931. Nelsen’s designs caught the attention of “Better Homes & Gardens,” which showcased a number of his petite Colonial designs in both 1936 and 1937. The periodical also named him one of eight leading residential architects in America. Silas Nelsen’s son, “Little Si,” was well known in the neighborhood during the 1940s. As a child he became particularly enamored with Tacoma’s street cleaning crew and followed them to the Jason Lee School until the crew brought the five year old back home. He then started sweeping the leaves into piles. The commissioner of public works at the time (A. R. Bergersen) had a child’s size sweeper made for Little “Si,” who was then given the special charge of watching over South Sheridan Avenue between 5th and 6th. 

A Walking Tour of the Wedge District. Tacoma, Wa. Historic Tacoma Press, 2009.