Property Record
795 N MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Colonel Cyrus M. Butt House |
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| Other Name: | Sherry-Butt House Museum |
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| Reference Number: | 72719 |
| Location (Address): | 795 N MAIN ST |
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| County: | Vernon |
| City: | Viroqua |
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| Year Built: | 1870 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1995 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Aluminum/Vinyl Siding |
| Architect: | William H.j. Nichols |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| 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, State Historic Preservation Office. This Italianate style-influenced side gable form house was built for Civil War veteran Col. Cyrus M. Butt, who was a distinguished early settler and jurist in Vernon County. Butt's house was originally the farmhouse of a 240 acre farm that was purchased in 1945 by Orbec Sherry, one of the most important early breeders of Brown Swiss dairy cattle in Wisconsin. Today, the origiinal farm has been subdivided for housing and Butt's otherwise intact house has been covered over with wide guage aluminum siding. Never-the-less, the house is of interest because of its associations with Butt and it is now used as a house museum by the Vernon County Historical Society, which owns it. 1995- "Sherry-Butt house, VE25/13-14. Fine early ltalianate style-influenced house built ca.1865 as the farmhouse of a now-vanished 240-acre farm. Although now resided in wide-gauge aluminum, this house is still recognizable and is a scarce example of the ltalianate style within its local context. It is potentially eligible for inclusion in the NRHP for its associations with Col. Cyrus M. Butt, a prominent early Viroqua jurist and Civil War veteran. The house was also the later home (and farm) of Orbec Sherry (from 1947 to 1988), a nationally famous breeder and promoter of Brown Swiss dairy cattle, but it is probably not eligible for this association. The house is now operated as a house museum by the Vernon County Historical Society." - "USH 14 Transportation Study ", WisDOT ID #1646-07-00, Prepared by Timothy F Heggland (1995). |
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| Bibliographic References: | Vernon County Broadcaster. October 22, 1953. Vernon County Heritage. Viroqua: Vernon County Historical Society, 1994, pp. 141, 192. LaCrosse Tribune 7/5/1996. Viroqua Vernon Co. Broadcaster 2/11/1999. Viroqua Vernon Co. Broadcaster 4/1/1999. “Architecture/History Survey: USH 14 Transportation Study, City of Viroqua.” WHS project number 96-5007/VE. August 1995. Timothy Heggland. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |