| Additional Information: | Elm Road to Racine Transmission Line Project - Stantec, Inc.
This roughly 1.47-acre parcel includes an altered circa 1896 farmhouse with extensive additions that has been converted into a corporate office. An adjacent 0.9-acre parcel to the north includes a circa 1975 metal-clad workshop building. The oldest portion of the two-and-one-half-story farmhouse appears to have had a central, hip roof with a gable wing extending a short distance to the west. Large gambrel roof wing additions are attached to the south and east, with more front and side-gable additions to the east of the eastern gambrel wing. The entire roof is covered with asphalt shingles. The exterior walls are clad primarily with vinyl siding, although the attic portion of the southern gambrel wing is clad with wooden shingles beneath the eave. Windows are primarily a combination of wooden and vinyl 1/1 types, with a large, two-story narrow bay of fixed plate glass windows extending from the center of the south elevation of the easternmost addition to the house. The oldest portion of the house appears to have a parged foundation while a brick foundation is visible beneath the southern wing addition.
The gable workshop to the northeast of the house has a metal roof and metal siding. A large asphalt parking lot extends to the north from 7 Mile Road, along the eastern end of the farmhouse additions as well as the western end of the metal-clad workshop.
The 1858 Redding & Wastson Map of Racine County as well as the 1873 E. M. Harney Map of Racine & Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin shows this land belonging to W. E. Lamberton.
The 1887 Illustrated Atlas of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin, shows this land belonging to E. Slender. This 1887 map, unlike earlier maps, shows a farmstead located at the location of the present-day farmhouse. The 1893 Knight & Peck Map of the East End of Racine County in the state of Wisconsin shows this land belonging to Gustav Slender. The Plat Book of Racine and Kenosha Counties shows G. H. Schelender here in 1899 (likely Gustav Heinrich Schlender, noting spelling variations) and adjacent parcels to the north and west owned by F. H. Schelender and F. Schelender. Gottlieb and Julianne Schlender immigrated from Germany around 1865, settling in Caledonia Township, Racine County. Their sons include Gustav Heinrich Schlender (1854-1926) and Friedrich Herman Schlender (1851-unknown). All were lifelong farmers.
Later versions of the Plat Book of Racine and Kenosha Counties show Paul Smercheck here in 1908 and again in 1924. The 1934 Atlas and plat book of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin continues to show the Paul Smercheck farmstead here. An earlier Paul Smercheck immigrated to Caledonia Township from Bohemia (a portion of the present-day Czech Republic) in 1856. He and his descendants were farmers. Those descendants include another Paul Smerchek (note spelling variation) who owned this parcel with his wife Katherine. Ownership of this farmstead passed down to their daughter, Blanche Wolff, when Katherine Smerchek died in 1959.
In 1967, Creative Advertising, Inc., purchased this site from Oliver and Blanche Wolff (née Blanche Smerchek), which then included the farmhouse, a barn, and an unspecified number of outbuildings. The interior of the farmhouse was extensively remodeled at that time. The large barn was leased to Arborhouse, a retailer of winemaking supplies and gifts. Per historic aerial photographs, the large south-facing gambrel wing with brick foundation was added to the farmhouse between 1976 and 1981. A major reworking of the buildings on this site was undertaken in 1984. The changes made in 1984 included a 5,000 square foot addition that was constructed on the east side of the existing farmhouse. This addition connected the house to three adjacent buildings that were relocated from elsewhere on the site for this project, including the barn.
The corporate owner of the nearby power plant, We Energies, purchased these two parcels in 2017 as part of ongoing efforts to expand a buffer zone around the power plant. This buffer zone also addresses issues of groundwater contamination related to the operation of the power plant. Various online real estate listings for when the property sold in 2017 list a construction date of 1896 for the house as well as a significant renovation in 1990. The 1896 construction date suits the architectural style of the oldest portions of the farmhouse
Structure was originally surveyed in 1975. Roll 3B, Frame 22. House has a large addition to the east and south of the original portion of the structure. |
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