Property Record
304 BRAEBOURNE CT
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Frank E. Murphy House |
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| Reference Number: | 71010 |
| Location (Address): | 304 BRAEBOURNE CT |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Allouez |
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| Year Built: | 1920 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1996 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Foeller, Schober & Stephenson under the personal direction of Marvin Stephenson |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Frank E. Murphy was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1862 and was the son of Simon Jones and Ann Montgomery Murphy. Frank grew up in Detroit and eventually worked at the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad Company. He left in 1886 to serve as the secretary-treasurer of the family business, Murphy Lumber Company in Green Bay. In 1894, Frank left Murphy Lumber Company and worked at the Green Bay Electronic Railway Company. He co-founded the Morley Murphy Hardware Company in 1904, serving as its vice president. He also served four terms as a City of Green Bay Alderman. In 1920, a house designed by the architecture firm of Foeller, Schober & Stephenson was constructed for Murphy in Allouez. Robert Cowles Jr. was born Allouez in 1924, the son of Dr. Robert and Emily Cowles. Dr. and Emily Cowles lived in the former Frank E. Murphy estate which was constructed in 1919. Robert Jr. attended Phillips Academy, a boarding preparatory school in Andover, Massachusetts. After serving in the United States Navy in the Pacific at the end of World War II, he attended Northwestern University and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He married Margaret Lindstom in Green Bay in 1949. Around 1960, the Cowles had a house constructed in Allouez on Ducharme Lane. Having formerly worked as a mechanical engineer for a paper company, Robert Cowles Jr. partnered with James River to establish the civil engineering firm, Marathon Engineering, in 1966 aimed at providing services to the forestry industry of northern Wisconsin. Cowles served as the company’s secretary-treasurer. Cowles retired in 1986. The company grew to become a major engineering, architecture, and planning firm which continues to operate to this day in Appleton. In 1990, Marathon Engineers was purchased by the Pöyry Group of Helsinki, Finland. Robert Cowles Jr. passed away in 2011. Under construction from 1920-1922 and occupied on August 1, 1922. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Pöyry (Appleton) LLC website. <http://poyryappletonllc.com> July 11, 2013. “Robert Cowles Jr.” Green Bay Press-Gazette: Obituaries. Sept. 30, 2011. GREEN BAY PRESS GAZETTE 9/27/1996. GREEN BAY NEWS CHRONICLE 9/26/1996. Village assessor. Green Bay Press-Gazette, "Murphy Home One of the Finest in Wisconsin," 5/27/1922. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |