Property Record
309 S MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Martin Roumm House |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 5371 |
| Location (Address): | 309 S MAIN ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Deerfield |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1939 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1981 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Wood Shingle |
| Architect: | SEARS AND ROEBUCK |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. ROUND ARCHED DOOR. 1/2 ROUND WINDOW IN GABLE. Between 1908 and 1940, Americans turned to their "wish book"--the Sears Roebuck catalog--to buy clothing, farm tools, furniture, appliances, radios, and much more. Sears could even provide houses, advertised in its Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans, which offered more than 450 ready-to-assemble designs in fashionable styles. Sears was not the only American company to manufacture and sell houses, but it was the most popular. More than one hundred thousand American families ordered their houses from Sears, which shipped the parts by rail. Sometime between 1935 and 1939, Martin Roumm ordered "The Mitchell," touted by Sears as "the latest idea in English architecture with a touch of the popular California studio type." Wooden shingles clad the unpretentious Neo-Tudor cottage, which is sheltered by a cross-gabled roof. At the entry portal, one of the eaves slopes almost to the ground, in picturesque fashion. A bank of multi-paned windows lights the living room, and a semicircular fanlight graces the attic. As a finishing touch, "a quaint English lamp,” according to the catalog, “bespeak[s] the hospitality and happiness that dwell within." |
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| Bibliographic References: | STEVENSON AND JANDL, HOUSES BY MAIL, P. 212. Wisconsin State Journal, Home Section, 11/20/1994. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |