Property Record
133 W MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Dr. Charles Giles Crosse House |
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| Other Name: | THE CROSSE HOME |
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| Reference Number: | 5998 |
| Location (Address): | 133 W MAIN ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Sun Prairie |
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| Year Built: | 1865 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1977 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Early Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Crosse, Dr. Charles G., House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 2/24/1993 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 12/11/1992 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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 Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. A physician who also operated a drugstore in Sun Prairie, Crosse built this Carpenter's Gothic house on Main Street shortly after he returned from duty as a surgeon in the Civil War. He also founded the village's first newspaper in 1877 and served as village president and state legislator. The Carpenter's Gothic style, characterized by gingerbread ornamentation, became popular with carpenter-builders in the mid-nineteenth century, after landscape architect A. J. Downing published pattern books promoting the idiom for rural settings. Here, simple chamfered posts with elaborate foliated brackets support a graceful veranda, which wraps around the front and east elevations. French windows and the entry door open onto this porch. Above the entrance, a tall, arched window pierces a gabled wall-dormer, embellished by foils and cusps formed by sandwiching together several bargeboards, each with its own distinctive pattern. In 1976, Sun Prairie Historical Restorations, a group of preservation-minded citizens, restored the building to its historic appearance for use as a community center, open for special events. |
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| Bibliographic References: | THE DATE OF CONSTRUCTION CAME FROM THE NR NOM. SUN PRAIRIE STAR 6/15/1995. THE CAPITAL TIMES 3/13/1996. Sun Prairie Star 1/8/1998. Sun Prairie Star 1/22/1998. Sun Prairie Star 9/6/2001. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |