Property Record
180 E DIVISION ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Benjamin & Adelaide Wild House / Fond du Lac Women's Club |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 53441 |
| Location (Address): | 180 E DIVISION ST |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1896 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1988 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | East Division Street - Sheboygan Street Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/17/2010 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/19/2010 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | This two and one-half story, frame-constructed Queen Anne house was built in 1896. It features a combination hip and gable roof with both tower and gable projections. A three-story octagonal tower projects from one corner of the front of the house. The house is clad with very narrow clapboards and accented with a wooden frieze and belt courses. Some small brackets accent the projecting front gable. This gable is also decorated with wood shingles. A veranda covers the front of the house. It features a flat roof supported by grouped Tuscan columns sitting on wooden piers. There is a spool and spindle balustrade across the front and sides of this veranda. Most windows are single-light, double-hung sashes. There are two large single pane windows in the front two-story shallow bay. There are two-story projecting bays on each of the side walls of the house. On one side of the house the bay is topped with a pent-roofed dormer. A few of the attic story window openings feature the original multi-pane sashes. This house is a fine example of the Queen Anne style of architecture. The house's main features, such as the irregular massing, numerous projections, corner tower, and veranda, are all hallmarks of the style. And, while this house has a generally irregular plan, the assymetry of the style is seen in the projecting bays, gable, and tower. The veranda adds a classical detail often seen on Queen Anne houses. This house was built for Benjamin and Adelaide Wild. They lived here until around 1936. Benjamin Wild was a partner in the O'Brien Dry Goods store, one of the largest dry goods businesses in downtown Fond du Lac. City Directories indicate that after Mabel Wild's brief residency in the house it became the Fond du Lac Women's Club House. Initial research indicates that this house has some historical interest as the long-time home of merchant Benjamin Wild and his family. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Fond du Lac City Directories. (B) Sanborn-Perris Maps - Fond du Lac. (C) Fond du Lac Tax Rolls. (D) Michael D. Lempinen and Les Ross, Intensive Survey Report, Fond du Lac: City of Fond du Lac and Sundberg, Carlson and Associates, Inc., 1989. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |