Property Record
615 GRACE AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Leslie G. & Leone Miller House |
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| Reference Number: | 53864 |
| Location (Address): | 615 GRACE AVE |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
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| Year Built: | 1930 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2011 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Photo code #2: 74FD-35/27 Previously surveyed in 1988. 2010-2011 Intensive Survey Info: This one-story, Spanish Colonial Revival-style house is faced with brick (painted white) and topped with a red and orange, barrel-tile roof. A terrace with a brick wall fronts the primary (west) entry, which is trimmed with brick and stone. A pair of casement windows are located to the right (south) of the door, while a smaller casement example with a spiraled column is located along the gabled endwall to the left (north). Additional windows along this elevation feature ironwork grilles and an ironwork lantern hangs adjacent to the entry. The endwall of the home#25;s rear wing includes a tripartite focal window, which is also accented with spiraled columns. Between the front and rear wings is what appears to be an outdoor courtyard, with a brick and ironwork entry. A #28;matching#29; garage was constructed in 1934 and remains there today. Built by Leslie G. & Leone Miller, this house was completed in 1929 at an approximate cost of $6,000. Although the actual architect is unknown (and it may well derive from a standardized plan book), the builder/contractor for the home was Immel Construction, the company for which Leslie Miller worked as an estimator. The 1930 census identifies that the Wisconsin-born Millers had a one-year-old son John G., as well as a live-in servant. The Miller's tenure at the subject home was short, for between 1932 and 1933, the house was sold to Dr. Linwood C. & Gladys Gardner. Dr. Gardner was born in 1887 in South Wayne, Indiana, and graduated from the University of Iowa Medical School in 1921. Following an internship at Harper Hospital in Detroit, he came to Fond du Lac where he practiced Otolaryngology for forty-two years. Dr. Miller is noted for having introduced bronchoscopy to the area, and he also served as the former chief of staff at St. Agnes Hospital. Dr. Gardner remained in the house until his death in 1982; his wife Gladys, who remained in the home, passed away six years later. Although Miller went on to serve as president of the well-known, local construction firm, it was following his tenure in the subject home and no additional information was found to suggest eligibility under Criterion B: Significant Persons in regards to Miller. With some additional investigations, it is possible that eligibility could be substantiated under Criterion B in regard to Dr. Gardner. However, the house stands as a significantly intact example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style of architecture with its multi-colored, barrel-tile roof, ironwork window grilles and focal windows with spiraled columns. It is, notably, the only example of the style in the city. Although appearing small from the front, a side view indicates that a courtyard is located between the front and rear wings of the home; a feature common to the style but relatively rare in Wisconsin. Based on the home's form, this house may have been from a catalog or other published plan. |
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| Bibliographic References: | See 2010-2011 Intensive Survey report for citations to material below. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |