4. 5300 Block of Ballard Avenue NW

The frame house just east of the Guitar Emporium looks like it's been there forever, but actually it's only been around a decade or so. Its southern neighbors were all built between 1900 and 1909. They house a number of interesting retailers and studios including Camelion Design and Sutter's Home & Hearth. Ballard Bookcase Co. occupies the district's only example of Richardsonian architecture, the G. B. Sandborn building of 1901. The popular Madam K's restaurant is nearby.

Of course, no seaport would be complete without a tattoo parlor, and neither is Ballard, thanks to Anchor Tattoo. The east side of Ballard Avenue begins with newer 1920s-era buildings and then "ages" into the early 1900s, but with its own assortment of modern stores such as City Comforts, Bark Natural Pet Care, and Lucca European Home & Garden shop.

Courtesy Walt Crowley

Courtesy Walt Crowley