Property Record
18224 ERVIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | James Hopkins House Motor Inn |
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| Other Name: | James Hopkins House and Oak Park Inn Bed and Breakfast |
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| Reference Number: | 226193 |
| Location (Address): | 18224 ERVIN ST |
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| County: | Trempealeau |
| City: | Whitehall |
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| Year Built: | 1960 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2013 |
| Historic Use: | hotel/motel |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2013: The James Hopkins House (AHI No. 51902) is a c.1890 American Foursquare that was extensively remodeled in the Colonial Revival style in the 1920s and 1930s. The two-story frame house is clad in clapboard and has an asphalt-shingled hip roof with a roofline balustrade. The primary (south) facade has a two-story full-width portico with square wood columns. The front door is centered on the facade and has a classical surround featuring a pediment and Doric pilasters. The door is flanked by a large, nine-pane bay window and a pair of nine-over-nine, double-hung wood windows. Other windows on the facade and secondary elevations are nine-over-nine, double-hung wood. On the east (side) elevation is a one-story enclosed porch that was added in the 1930s and currently serves as the lobby for the Oak Park Inn Bed and Breakfast. It is clad in clapboard and brick and covered by a low-pitched shed roof with a roofline balustrade. Attached to the lobby is a curved loggia with a low-pitched roof supported by square wood columns and adorned with a roofline balustrade. The loggia connects the home to a c.1910 one-story carriage house (AHI No. 227010) sided with clapboard and red brick veneer and topped with a steeply-pitched hip roof. Most carriage house windows are six-over-six, double-hung wood sash, but some are one-over-one vinyl replacements. On the northwest side of the property is a six-room motor inn (AHI No. 226193) built in 1960. It is a one-story, rectangular building with one-over-one, double-hung wood sash windows. It is clad in vinyl siding and red brick and has a side gable roof. At one time, the area was extensively landscaped by Johns Harley Hopkins and his mother, Nellie. Some landscape features are extant, including retaining walls and a reflecting pool. One grave marker is located in the gardens behind the house for Ida Mae Van Sickle, a relative of the Hopkins. On the southeast edge of the property, near the road, is a sign that reads “Oak Park Inn,” with a black arrow pointing north towards the motor inn. A vintage bicycle that hangs off the front of the sign by a metal pole was added to the sign c.2000. The Hopkins family, led by John and Mary, arrived in Trempealeau County in 1855. They settled in the town of Preston and established a successful farm. After John and Mary’s deaths, the farm was inherited by their eldest son, James Hopkins, who further developed the property and built the American Foursquare residence. After his death in 1913, his son, Florison, purchased a seven-acre plot of land in Whitehall and relocated the house to that site. At this time, the original one-story, full facade porch was removed. In the late 1920s and 1930s the house was significantly remodeled with the current Colonial Revival details by Florison’s son, Johns “Harley” Hopkins, a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago. Harley Hopkins, an interior designer, was a partner in the Chicago firm of Holabird & Root. In the 1920s Hopkins was living and working in Washington D.C. and visited George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. This visit is believed to be the motivation behind the exterior and interior Colonial Revival renovations to the Hopkins House, as he designed the full-facade portico, roofline balustrades, and covered loggia himself. The landscaping was added between World War I and the end of World War II, and was inspired by European gardens Harley Hopkins visited while in the military. After the death of Harley Hopkins in 1953, the home was bought by R.L. and Irene McGrath. In 1960 Irene built the six-unit motor inn building. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Architecture and History Survey: USH 53” WHS project number 13-0879/TR. November 2013. Prepared by Mead & Hunt Inc. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |