4512 N 28th St, Tacoma
$539,000
3 Beds
1 Bath
2,130 Sq Ft (1,258 Finished + 872 Unfinished)
6,000 Sq Ft Lot
Fall leaves are falling and they may be all loosed from their branches and blown away in the wind before someone falls into place here, but not before they fall in love. That’s the first step, that knowing feeling, that recognition that settles in. Someone out there will feel it upon brushing past the evergreen branches on their way up the path to the front porch. And maybe then it’s just an inkling, a sense that this may be the neighborhood, the street, the block, the one. Searching for home involves all this thought, evaluation of priorities, checklists, parameters—but then when you feel it, you feel it.
Here’s a chance to make home in the North End—home just a few blocks from Proctor markets, schools, ice cream shops, booksellers, and cafes. A classic covered porch opens to oak hardwoods in the living and dining area with its coved ceiling. Freshly painted inside and out, this house with Craftsman elements is set and ready with new flooring in the kitchen and bath, double-pane windows, a gas furnace to warm you through winter, a gas range to keep you cooking. Come settle down, set a table in the eat-in kitchen, tuck boots, hats and houseplants in the bright, south-facing enclosed porch. One bedroom rests on the main floor, two more—finished with a beautiful fir floor—wait above, while plenty of storage and laundry space stand ready in the basement below. A fully fenced back yard offers room to build a garage, to plant and to play.
So come sit on the porch a minute, imagine a hot cup of tea in your hands. Listen to the life of the neighborhood: the sound of a lawnmower running one last time before winter, the scuff of a jogger’s tennies on the sidewalk, squirrels skittering in the brush, kids making their way home after bursting out of Mason Middle School a couple of blocks away. Consider life here where the grocery shops, coffee roaster, and library are just 3 minutes away by car, where the farmers’ market returns Saturday after Saturday, where arts festivals pop-up in the summertime.
We’re proud to represent this Proctor Neighborhood home alongside Anne Jones. If you feel it calling your name, continue on for the video tour, photos, details, and a more thorough introduction to the neighborhood including a list of 20 local favorite destinations and services nearby.
Main Floor
Living & Dining Room
Eat-in Kitchen
Full Bath
Bedroom
Enclosed Porch
Second Floor
2 Additional Bedrooms
Unfinished Basement
Laundry
Storage Space
Water Heater & Gas Furnace
Outdoors
Covered Front Porch
Fully Fenced Back Yard
Gated Alley Access
Space for a Garage
Paved Pathways
Gates From Back to Front Yard
Curbed Street with Sidewalks & Planting Strip
Covered Porch
You’re invited. Step up and take a seat. On the way in, on the way out, practice pausing. Life (or culture or the times or society or something) seems always to be hurrying us along. But maybe hurry and hustle are overrated. Maybe this is the time to sit down to the most unhurried front porch life you can imagine. Yes, there is work to do, laundry, groceries, cooking, volunteering, errands, bills, festivities. Good; those are all necessary and important. But add sitting with a cup of coffee, a book, a friend (a book who is a friend) to that cycle of necessities. No time like the present to treat today like it’s your life. If today is actually your life—if life isn’t something waiting to happen—then you might as well take a breath on the porch. No one else can do it for you. Now that we’ve stood here musing on existence together, maybe we could actually show you the house. Yes, we do know that’s what you came for. Come on in.
Living & Dining Room
After a little (or a long) sit on the front porch, enter the sitting room—that’s a nice partner name for the living room, don’t you think? The living-sitting room. It’s just another vote for the fact that sitting in place while maybe doing nothing is part of living. This house is full of good news for you. Bring your book, your coffee, your friend, or your friend who is a book in here and spend some time together.
Oak hardwood floors are laid underfoot. A coved ceiling rises above. And, like the rest of the interior and exterior, the room is freshly painted.
The living and dining areas share this room. That means you can choose how to arrange things, how much space to afford the table, how much to give the couch. If you’re one of those talented folks with an eye for reimagining a room and like to shake things up by rearranging the rug and the lamp and the easy chair and the dining table and impressing your friends with your interior design vision every time they come over, this is a place for giving that a try. Or take a cue from the interior designer who set it up as it is today to help you imagine your life here—a comfortable couch area for putting your feet up, and a dining area with close proximity to the kitchen.
Eat-in Kitchen
If the sun shines even a bit while you’re here, look for it slanting through the south-facing windows of the enclosed porch illuminating the kitchen floor; a welcome sight. These days, the sun is often shining from behind a clouded, overcast sky so you may not be treated to beams of light on walls and floors. But looking at these images, you know what you can look forward to.
New flooring, fresh paint, recessed lighting, and an easy-flow through to the dining room or out to the enclosed porch (along with sunshine on the best days) give this eat-in kitchen a pleasant, friendly feeling. An array of cabinets offer storage with those extra cupboards over in the breakfast nook for stowing just a few more things—there always are just a few more things in a kitchen.
The double-basin stainless sink beside the dishwasher makes food prep convenient, and a gas range is a welcome sight for cooks. It’s a tidy, bright, complete room. And don’t miss the wainscot and plate rail over by the breakfast table.
Enclosed Porch
I’d like to transport this room to my house. First, it’s charming with its wainscot, plate rail, glass doors, and abundant light. Also, it’s convenient. It’s the place to wipe wet paws, pull off boots, start seedlings, or treat houseplants to some sunshine. South-facing windows overlook the fenced back yard, and the staircase to the basement is accessed from this room. Four photos may seem like a lot to share, but it’s a happy place.
Main Floor Bedroom
A main floor bedroom is an excellent room to have in a house. For some, it’s not convenient or easy to go up and down a lot of stairs every day, so this makes life at home more comfortable for a wider range of people. On the other hand, if two bedrooms upstairs suit your needs, this main floor room is right where you need it for an office, studio space, guest room, playroom, or den. Oak floors continue in from the living room and wood-wrapped windows add a rich warmth.
Full Bath
Just down the hall from the main floor bedroom find the full bath. This room is finished with new floors, a tiled shower/bath, a medicine chest over the pedestal sink, built-in shelves for storage, and a privacy-glass window.
2nd Floor Bedrooms
Take the stairs from the hallway up to the second floor to find two additional bedrooms finished with beautiful fir floors. This front, north-facing bedroom overlooks the front yard and N. 28th St. Across the landing, a south-facing bedroom with built-in cupboards overlooks the back yard.
Notice a door on the lower landing of the stairwell. This exit leads to a small porch with steps down to the side yard.
Unfinished Basement
Reach the stairwell to the unfinished basement via the enclosed porch off the kitchen. The basement houses the water heater, gas furnace, washer and dryer, a utility sink, and lots of storage space. You’ll also find workbenches for storing tools and supplies.
Outside
On this 6,000 square foot lot there’s plenty of room to plant, to garden, and to play. As you can see on the neighboring lots, there’s room to add a garage or garden shed, maybe a patio, or blueberries. The fully fenced back yard gets lots of southern light. You’ll see a butterfly bush and other small shrubs and trees. Evergreens screen the front yard, providing a bit of privacy and shade while landscape beds along the porch await next year’s plantings.
Gates in the wooden fence on either side of the house add convenience when mowing or doing any kind of gardening projects. Paved paths lead from the alley to the enclosed back porch and along the west side of the home to the sidewalk in front. A planting strip between the sidewalk and the curb gives spaciousness to the neighborhood and offers even more landscaping potential.
Location
Living in the Proctor District is like living in a small town within a city. Sure, people do drive around, but in every season you’ll see neighbors outside walking, biking, jogging, pushing strollers, getting around without cars on their way to pick up some mail, pick up kids from school, pick up dry cleaning, or pick-up a gallon of milk. When you live here, you’ll find yourself heading out the door without the car to meet a friend for coffee, to fill up a growler, or to find a book at the library. Get your small town fix, but easily get downtown or down to the waterfront too.
Image from Olympia Coffee Roasters - Just 0.6 miles from the door of 4512 N 28th, and a very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
COFFEE & TREATS
If you're looking for a cup of coffee, try Olympia Coffee Roasters on N. 26th & Proctor. If you want some gelato, banana pudding, or tiramisu to go with that, visit Metropolitan Market where you'll also be face to face with The Cookie, a fresh, warm, crispy-edged, melted chip, walnut studded confection of perfection. But if you'd actually really like a doughnut with your coffee, that's in store for you at Top Pot on the corner of N. 28th and Proctor. If you get to Top Pot and discover what you really wanted was a scoop of locally made ice cream, you’re in luck — Bliss Small Batch Creamery moved in, so now they really have it all.
Connect the Brick is kid-created (founded by a 9 year old) and community-approved. It’s also just around the corner on N. 27th, so add it to your Proctor treasure hunt.
ERRANDS & SHOPPING
In the meantime, if you need to pick up some groceries, stock up on books for the weekend, and pick out a party gift, you're all set. Safeway and Metropolitan Market have what you need in the eggs, radishes, bread, deli, and cheese department. If it’s Saturday, you can’t miss the Proctor Farmers’ Market. The Wheelock Library is just across the street from the beautiful brick Washington Elementary School for all your literary needs.
Visit local artists like KdBird at the annual Proctor Arts Fest.
Gift shopping is varied, laid back, and fun in Proctor. You’ll find gifts for the young ones in your life at Teaching Toys & Books, gifts for all ages at The Proctor Mercantile, the Pacific Northwest Shop, and Compass Rose, gifts for the plant-lover in your life at The Fernseed, and gifts for the one you love truly at Lapis. We should also mention the second-hand and resale stores in the area. These are worth a visit because you really never know what you’ll find. Take a look at Playback Sports, Megs & Mo Upscale Resale, Blooming Kids, and Blue a Goodwill Boutique. These shops actually just scratch the surface. Go explore, maybe you’ll find the tiny Lego store run by a local kiddo. Okay, we’re not going to list them all. The point is, you can check off the grocery list and your other to-dos without even getting back in your car.
Image from Peaks & Pints, your friendly craft beer and cider taproom with big time sandwiches too!
FOOD
If you’ve finished your errands—fueled by coffee and a treat—but you’re starting to feel really hungry, and a bit thirsty too, you’re in the right place. Consider stopping in at Peaks & Pints. There you can choose from a wide array of bottled beverages in their coolers, or step up to the bar and you'll find plenty of microbrews along with a cider and kombucha choice on tap. Then, relax and read the food menu; we expect you’ll find a sandwich to fill you up.
The Rosewood, where you can sit happily with your date, your mom, or your kid, is a beloved Tacoma staple, and it’s just 1 mile from 4512 N 28th St.
A couple of our favorite places to eat in the neighborhood are just a few blocks east of Proctor Street. Head east on N. 26th, and you'll land at The Rosewood Cafe where you'll find a small patio on nice days, and a bright interior serving sandwiches, salads, and a few other specials. But just another block further and you're at Brewer's Row, home to truly delicious tacos, burritos, taco bowls, and, as the name implies, brews (coffee and beer). They have really good fish and veggie options as well.
Take a look at our list of 20 local destinations to get an even better idea of where this home and neighborhood fit in the wider community.
Visit the Proctor Farmers’ Market every Saturday late-March through mid-December, then 2nd Saturdays in the “off” season. If you’re on foot, the market is about a 10 minute walk from home. Yeehaw!
20 Favorite Local Destinations & Services Within 1 Mile
(Travel times here are calculated at about 3 mph - if you’re a speedy walker, riding a bike, or on a faster wheelchair or scooter you could get around even more quickly.)
Out of an entire grocery store full of good food, why are we sharing a photo of The Cookie? If you don’t know, read this article—or better yet, go eat one!
Groceries & Shopping
Metropolitan Market: 0.6 miles, 12 minutes
Safeway: 0.7 miles, 14 minutes
Proctor Farmers’ Market: 0.5 miles, 9 minutes
The Proctor Mercantile: 0.5 miles, 10 minutes
The Fernseed: 0.5 miles, 10 minutes
Teaching Toys & Books: 0.5 miles, 11 minutes
Image from Crudo & Cotto serving up Italian recipes with local ingredients just 1/2 a mile from 4512 N 28th St.
Teaching Toys & Books, a mainstay for puzzles, beautiful books for young readers, baby gifts, sweet stuffed animals, and all kinds of crafts and activities, is just 1/2 a mile from home.
Parks & Schools
Washington Elementary School: 0.7 miles, 14 minutes
Mason Middle School: 0.4 miles, 7 minutes
Puget Creek Natural Area: 0.7 miles, 13 minutes
Proctor Community Garden: 0.8 miles, 17 minutes
Dining, Drinks & Treats
Olympia Coffee Roasting: 0.6 miles, 12 minutes
Crudo & Cotto: 0.5 miles, 10 minutes
Peaks & Pints: 0.6 miles, 13 minutes
Rosewood Cafe: 1 mile, 19 minutes
Top Pot Doughnuts with Bliss Small Batch Creamery: 0.4 miles, 9 minutes
Blue Mouse Theatre: 0.5 miles, 11 minutes
Ice Cream Social: 0.6 miles, 13 minutes
Key Services
United States Post Office: 0.6 miles, 12 minutes
Tacoma Fire Station 13: 0.7 miles, 14 minutes
Wheelock Library: 0.7 miles, 15 minutes
More Information From the Listing Agent
Come see this Proctor Neighborhood home in person to get a feel for the layout, style, size, and location.
And feel free to call or text me, Michael Duggan, at 253-226-2787. I’ll be happy to answer your questions about this property, or talk with you about Tacoma and the local real estate market in general.
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