815 NICOLET AVE

815 NICOLET AVE

Brown

De Pere

1940

2001,2017,2022

house

Neoclassical/Beaux Arts

Brick

Harry Williams

No

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. Kohl was a buyer for H.C. Prange Co. 2017 survey recommendation write-up: Rising two stories and side-gabled in form, this Neoclassical Revival-style house is clad with brick and brick quoining trims each corner. Dominating the symmetrically arranged, primary (south) entrance elevation is a gabled two-story portico with a series of four, square wooden supports. The portico pediment is sheathed with clapboard and trimmed with dentils below; additional dentil trim runs beneath the roof’s eave. Beneath the portico and along the first floor, the central doorway is flanked with narrow sidelights and topped with a transom, all of which is set within a wooden surround beneath a soldier brick header. A single, rectangular window is located to either side of the entry, while a series of three double-hung sash occupy the second level beneath the portico. The remaining wall space carries four regularly spaced, double-hung sash with shutters; the first-floor examples are eight-over-twelve-light examples, while the upper story are eight-over-eight. This house, designed by Harry Williams, was built in 1940 for Edward F. and Jean Kohl. The local paper recorded both the home’s start of construction (early May) as well as its completion (mid-November). Edward Kohl was born in Sheboygan in 1906. Following high school, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After working for the H.C. Prange Co. (department store) in Sheboygan, he moved to Green Bay in 1928 to continue working for Prange’s. Three years later, he wed Jean Irmiger. In 1948, he left his position as store manager and opened up his own clothing store in Green Bay, a woman’s apparel shop known as Kohl’s. Kohl died in 1970, at the age of sixty-four. Architect Harry W. Williams was born in Two Rivers in 1901. Although the 1920 census finds him working as a fitter, by 1923, he is living in Manitowoc and identified as a draftsman (no firm is listed, however). As of 1926, directories specify that he worked for architect Charles Clark Reynolds. Three years later, he is found in the Green Bay directory (again in association with Reynolds) but in 1930, the census enumerates him in Manitowoc yet again. However, in 1931, he married Renee Den Dooven in Green Bay, where he would remain thereafter, as well as establish his own architectural practice. He retired in 1974 and died in 1984. Although he did residential work, his obituary cites mostly schools and office structures, as well as the Green Bay Packer Office and Training Building, during the Lombardi years. He also designed a lakeside cottage for Curly Lambeau in 1940.

2001: Building permit. The Kohls are confirmed as in the home as of 1941 city directory. Citations for 2017 survey information found below in Additional Comments: Building permit, 24 April 1940, cites Kohl as owner, Williams as architect, Martin Albers as contractor and estimated cost of 48,000; Newsbrief (re start of construction), De Pere Journal Democrat, 9 May 1940, 6/1; Newsbrief (re: Kohls move in next week), De Pere Journal Democrat, 7 November 1940, 7/3; “Edward F. Kohl Dies; Operated Store Here,” Green Bay Press-Gazette, 14 December 1970, 1. U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1920, 1930, 1940; Manitowoc City Directory, 1923, 1926; Green Bay City Directory, 1929; “Harry W. Williams,” Obituary, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 23 April 1984, 25.

Edward F and Jean Kohl House

Dec 27, 2023

May 26, 2023