Property Record
149 N OAKLAND AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Frank T. Blesch House |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 2160 |
| Location (Address): | 149 N OAKLAND AVE |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1905 |
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| Additions: | 1916 |
| Survey Date: | 19852021 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | H.A. Foeller-1905 |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Oakland--Dousman Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/27/1988 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Photo code #2: 75BR-6/31 Excellent Neo-Classical Revival design with a two-story pedimented portico centered on the symmetrical main facade. The portico is supported by the four massive fluted Ionic Order columns, having Ionic Order capitals with two, two-story paneled pilasters placed on the main facde behind the end columns. The large main entrance door has a massive, single enframement having a slightly pedimented entablature over the eight panelled door with 14 light sidelights on either side. The second floor windows above the entrance door consists of a group composed of three 6/6 light windows. All windows have entablatured window heads; the first floor having four 8/12 windows. The second floor has four 6/6 light windows. The clapboard sided facades have two-story-tall paneled pilasters at the corners of the building and the facades are terminated above by a simple entablature acting as the cornice. The closed gable ends are sided in wood shingles. Frank T. Blesch was the son of Francis Blesch, owner of the Bay Brewing on N. Pearl (BR33-09,10). The younger Blesch entered the dry goods firm of his brother-in-law, J. L. Jorgenson, as a clerk in 1878. By 1887, he was a partner in the firm and managed its Green Bay store when constructed. Jorgenson-Blesch, as the firm was then known, became the largest dry goods/mercantile store in the city in the late 19th and early 20th Century. This house is significant as the finest example of the Neo-Classical Revival style found in west Green Bay and is one of the best in the city. The generous dimensions and excellent proportions of the design, coupled with a clever use of classically inspired design elements such as the massive and typical two-story tall portico all combine to create a house which is a textbook example of its style and type. The significance of the house is strengthened by the completely intact and excellently preserved condition of the house and by the generous grounds which surround the house. Garage built in the same style and with equal detailing as the main house. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Brown County tax rolls. (B) Commemorative Biographical record of the Counties of Brown, Kewaunee, and Door, Wisconsin, 1885, p. 161. (C) Berness-Schober Assoc., Inc. Archives Plan 465. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |