Property Record
133 W DIVISION ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | John Q. & Jennie Griffith House |
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| Reference Number: | 53621 |
| Location (Address): | 133 W DIVISION ST |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
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| Year Built: | 1870 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2010 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Second Empire |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | This two-story Second Empire house has a mansard roof with wide overhanging eaves that are decorated with pendent brackets and a paneled frieze. The house is constructed of brick that is painted. Windows are primarily single light sashes and elaborately decorated with wooden architrave surrounds. Two large single light windows with surrounds flank the main entrance. This entrance is in a two-story entry pavilion. The two entry doors make an elliptical arch and feature oval and teardrop glazing. A porch with flat roof, rinceau frieze with brackets, and square posts covers this entrance. Two two-story bays project from the east wall of the house. They feature pediments, paneled friezes, brackets, and single-light sashes of large single light windows. These bays flank a one-story square bay that is similarly decorated. Also on the property is a "Victorian" style playhouse, and a brick carriage house with a mansard roof and round arched openings. The house has the mansard roof and classical details typical of the style, but the high quality of these details and the fact that they are so elaborate makes this house the best example of the style in the city, as well as one of the best houses of all styles in the city. The added playhouse and fine carriage house add to the property's significance. This house was built for John Q. Griffith, a lumberman who probably made money during the lumbering era in Fond du Lac during the mid-nineteenth century. John and Margaret Boyle were later owners. John Boyle was a businessman. This house is not historically significant at this time. Further research into Griffith and Boyle may uncover information that makes the house significant in the future. Previously surveyed in 1988. 2010-2011 Intensive Survey Info: This property consists of three buildings: a Second Empire-style house (AHI#53621); a carriage house/garage (AHI#53623); and a pool house (AHI#53622). The brick-constructed house rises two stories from a stone foundation and is topped with a mansard roof with overhanging eaves. The eave shelters a paneled wooden frieze and carved wooden brackets with pendants line the eave. A single roof dormer with a pair of round-arched windows rises from both the east and west elevations. The primary (south) elevation features a two-story, gabled central projection that includes a wood-and-glass, double-door entrance within a segmentally arched surround. A flat-roofed, open porch with engaged pilasters to the rear and simple wooden post supports to the front also includes brackets beneath the roofline. A single sash window is located above the porch, while a porthole window rests immediately beneath the gable. Two windows, one to either side of the entry, as well as another set on the second floor feature a full surround with carved wooden trim. The lower level examples have a single pane of glass, while the upper openings carry a pair of double-hung sash windows. A pair of two-story, rectangular bays are located along the home's east elevation, to either side of a secondary porch entry. A one-story bay, as well as a two-story example, extends from the home's west facade. An original two-story wing with mansard roof extends from the west half of the rear elevation, while a later, flat-roofed addition occupies the east half. Windows throughout the house are generally one-over-one-light, double-hung sashes arranged singly and in pairs. Rising from a rusticated stone foundation, the small pool house, which was built between 1892 and 1898, is topped with a flat roof with mansard-like sides and covered with clapboard. A central gabled projection along the building's east wall features scrollwork trim along the gable. The carriage house, which is evident on the 1884 Sanborn map, is constructed of brick and topped with a hipped roof; however, it has since been re-sheathed with modern siding. The central opening, facing N. Military Road, is now infilled with a modern overhead garage door, while small, round-arched windows are located to either side. A clipped gable with brackets shelters what would have been the original hay door. This house was built by John Q. & Jennie M. Griffith in circa 1870. John Griffith was born in New York in 1818 and came to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1850 with his second wife Jennie and his children from his first marriage to Lucy Goss. Together with Jennie, John had another child, Jennie. Initially Griffith pursued the transportation business; however, he entered the lumbering business in 1856. Three years later he operated the Wilbur & Henry Mill, after which he purchased the Forest Street Mill. In 1871, he erected a mill on West Division Street, which was later known as J.Q. Griffith & Sons. In 1889, the house was sold to John T. Boyle. It was noted at that time, that Boyle "proposes to refit the residence in a modern style, and make it as comfortable as architecture and good taste can do it." Unfortunately no historic photos of the home exist during the Griffith family ownership to know the extent of Boyle's presumed renovations. At any rate, Sanborn maps indicate that Boyle was responsible for the construction of the pool house. Although president of the Northwestern Yeast Company, Boyle is perhaps better known for his philanthropic work including the financing of St. Mary's Springs Academy and his contributions to St. Agnes Hospital, among others. John Boyle resided at the subject home until his death in 1922; his widow Margaret (nee Wilson, whom he had married in 1895) remained in the house until her death in 1958. The home briefly stood vacant before it was purchased by Monte Newhouser by no later than 1960. Notable for its Second Empire styling, the Griffith-Boyle House was listed as a City of Fond du Lac landmark in 2003. Indeed, the house is a very good and intact example of the style, as well as one of only a few located in the city. |
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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. See 2010-2011 Intensive survey report for additional citations for material below. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |