Property Record
915 GRAND AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Nathan Orr House |
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| Other Name: | Little Green House Antiques |
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| Reference Number: | 50658 |
| Location (Address): | 915 GRAND AVE |
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| County: | Marathon |
| City: | Wausau |
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| Year Built: | 1870 |
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| Survey Date: | 198320122018 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
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| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2012-Nathan Orr worked in Wausau as a carpenter and builder of fine furniture and cabinets form 1866 until 1900. This house was built in 1870 at 630 N Second Street. It was moved ca. 2008 to this location by Anne Gausmann. The house is locally noted for its late Greek Revival style architecture and as such is a Wausau Historic Landmark. 2018 survey write-up: This two-story, Greek Revival-style house rises from a poured concrete foundation and is sheathed with clapboard. The street-facing elevation features a pair of sash windows with eight-light, wood-frame storms along the first floor, along with a wooden-panel door (with sidelights and transom) that is sheltered by a bracketed wooden hood. A pair of sash windows occupies the upper floor and the house is outlined by a wide wooden frieze with return eaves. Additional eight-light storms are located along each side elevation, while small, attic-story windows run immediately beneath the eave. A gabled dormer (not original) rises from the home’s north side to provide for an exit from the upper floor. The interior includes carved wooden features (including a fireplace surround) that were reportedly done by the home’s original owner, Nathan Orr. This house was originally built circa 1870 at 630 N. 2nd Street; original owners were Nathan and Martha Orr. Nathan was born in Massachusetts. According to local research, Nathan, a carpenter and cabinetmaker, came to Wausau in 1864 and wed New Hampshire-born, Martha Nutter in 1866. As of the 1870 census, Nathan is identified as a cabinetmaker and he and Martha had two children, John (age 3) and Harriet (age 1). Martha died in February 1872, just days after their youngest son (Nathan) was born. In May 1873, Nathan wed a second time (to twenty-year-old Fannie), with whom he remained until his death in 1907. Fannie died in 1926. Threatened with demolition in 2008, the house was moved to its current location in the former Kelly Park by Anne Gausmann. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Wausau City Tax Records. (B) Record Herald 6/27/64. “Architecture/History Survey: Reconstruct USH/Bus. 51 (Grand Ave.): Kent St. To Division St.” WHS project number 12-0992/MR. June 2012. Prepared by Rachel E. Bankowitz. Citations for the 2018 survey information below: U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1870-1900, Available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed in June 2018; Marriage record for Nathan and Fannie on 11 May 1873, Accessed at www.wisconsinhistory.org, Accessed June 2018; Jaime Orcutt, “Sole Survivor” and “Vaudeville Stars Called Nathan Orr House Home,” both articles in the Wausau Daily Herald, 3 June 2000, 1C, 3C. Death date of Martha Jane Nutter Orr gleaned from family tree information found on www.Ancestry.com. House is also included in Aucutt, Hettinga & Jansen, Wausau Beautiful, 186. City in the Pinery, A Guide to Wausau's Architecture, The City of Wausau, 1983. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |