Property Record
MAPLE DR .6 M N OF COUNTY HIGHWAY D
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | BLACKBURN HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 10493 |
| Location (Address): | MAPLE DR .6 M N OF COUNTY HIGHWAY D |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Waterford |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 4 |
| Range: | 19 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 32 |
| Quarter Section: | SE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1847 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1975 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cobblestone |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| 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, State Historic Preservation Office. STONE QUOINS AND LINTELSPAIRED BRACKETS UNDER EAVESPEDIMENTED GABLE [Date Cnst:-1852] Cobblestone houses are a form of folk art. Craftsmen from upstate New York brought the technique to northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin when they migrated here in the mid-1800s. Consequently, Wisconsin and Illinois together boast more cobblestone houses than anywhere else but the Empire State. Many of Wisconsin’s cobblestone houses are sited near bands of glacial moraine in communities named, as here, for places in upstate New York. When English immigrant Matthew Blackburn built this house on his 280-acre farm, he probably contracted with one of those transplanted New York masons. The house’s walls are rubble, but its front has a decorative cobblestone veneer. Cobbles of various colors protrude from horizontal lines of mortar. Like most cobblestone builders after 1835, this mason embraced the Greek Revival style, juxtaposing the playfulness of the stones with the formality of stone quoins, an off-center entry with a full transom and sidelights, and classical details. The pediment frames a tympanum of cobbles, pierced at center by a triangular attic light. The house’s one-story wing once had a recessed porch with two columns, but the porch has been walled in with siding and a bay window. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |