| 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-Public History. Garage is contributing.
2017-2018 Survey Report Recommendation Write-Up:
Sheathed with stucco, this Arts & Crafts-style house rises from a cut stone foundation. The hipped and rolled roof is covered with wooden shingles and at its center is an eyebrow window, above which rises a stone chimney. A roof dormer along the rear of the house provides for an additional half-story. The home is symmetrical in plan and its primary elevation features a pair of hipped-roof wings that extend slightly from the main block. The left (or south) wing is the home’s entrance, with a central door and flanking windows, while the opposing wing includes a tripartite grouping of six-over-six-light, double-hung sash. At the center and below the eyebrow window is a grouping of five, six-over-six-light sash. Each bank of windows is underscored by a wooden window box with bracket trim. A flat-roofed, single-car garage is located north of the house, while an additional garage is located at the rear (west) of the house.
This house was built in 1922 for Fred & Ada Curran. Fred Curran was born in Marquette County, Wisconsin, in 1879. After attending local schools and getting his teaching certificate at the age of nineteen, he taught rural school from 1898 to 1903. He then attended the Stevens Point Normal School, from which he graduated in 1905. Following two years as a principal in Lincoln County, he moved to Menomonie, where he spent a year as a student at the Stout Institute. In 1908, he joined the staff at Stout Institute and, for his first ten years there, he taught a variety of classes, including elementary woodwork, and elementary cabinetmaking. In 1918, he became the supervisor of student teaching, as well as the director of the Menomonie Vocational school, the latter position of which he served through 1939. In 1921, he earned a Bachelor’s degree from Stout and, in 1934, he graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. After thirty-two years of service, Curran resigned in 1940 from the Stout Institute staff. In 1947, the Currans sold the house to R. C. Hartman. At that time, the Curran house was singled out as having been the first house to be built in the Oakwood Heights subdivision. Ada died in 1955 and Fred passed away in 1973. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Citations for report information provided below: Curtiss-Wedge and Jones, eds., History of Dunn County, Wisconsin, 449; “Fred Curran Resigns from Stout Staff,” Eau Claire Leader, 16 February 1940, 2/3; “Fred Curran Sells Oakwood Heights Home to R. C. Hartman,” Dunn County News, 15 October 1947, II-1/3. |
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