| Additional Information: | This house is unusual for its gambrel roof and shingled front end with three symmetrically arranged windows. Note side wall dormer with flat roof. First story made of cast rusticated cement blocks in imitation of native brownstone.
2017 survey report information:
This one-and-one-half-story, Dutch Colonial Revival-style house is largely constructed of rock-faced, concrete block; however, the front-facing gambrel roof, the gabled dormer to the south and the shed-roofed wall dormer on the north are covered with wooden shingles. The north half of the east-facing entrance elevation includes a recessed, open porch with a singular support comprised of smooth concrete block. A short concrete pier and a solid concrete block wall complete the porch enclosure. The porch shelters a fixed, leaded-glass window and the home’s primary entry. The south half of the elevation is pierced by a large, rectangular opening that carries a pair of sash windows (the space previously [in 2001] included a large, single-pane window with a multi-pane storm). Windows on the first floor are topped with a smooth concrete header, while windows along the upper story are topped with a modest wooden, raised head.
Deed information suggests that the house was originally built to serve as a rental. The property was purchased by architect Henry Wildhagen in 1896; however, the house was not built until sometime between 1901 and 1909. The first confirmed occupant (renter) of the home was the family of Patrick W. Coffey, who worked as a lumber inspector. They resided here by no later than 1917 and remained into the 1920s. As of 1930, the home was occupied by railroad switchman Henry J. Slack, his wife Frances and their daughter Florence; they remained there through at least 1937. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 2017 report citations: Sanborn-Perris Fire Insurance Map of Ashland, Wis., 1901, 1909; Thomas and Jennie Bardon to Henry Wildhagen, WD (28 September 1896), 58/126, #6272; Later deed information indicates that a Quit Claim Deed (referring to Lot 3, Block 52) between Marie Wildhagen and John Bernier was signed in 1927; thus indicating that the parcel was still in the possession of Marie Wildhagen at that time; In 1931, the house is identified as having been sold to Andrew Peterson, Anna Welker, executor of the will of Marie C. Wildhagen, to Andrew Peterson, WD (2 April 1931), 143/48, #86560, however, both the 1930 census and the 1931 city directory cite that Henry Slack is an owner occupant; U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1920, 1930; Ashland City Directory, 1917, 1922, 1931, 1937. |
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