| Additional Information: | Built in 1905, this frame house, rising two stories plus attic, is an architecturally significant example of an early 20th century residence in Beloit, caught in the transition between the late Queen Anne and the quieter, more cubic styles of the new century. The massing here is nearly cubic, ornament is reduced, and the fenestration aims at the regular, but a corner turret, rising from a rounded bay and culminating in a conical roof with flared eaves, provides variety and a strong tilt toward the asymmetry of earlier years. Nonetheless, the clapboard siding is unornamented and the steep pitch of the hip roof is lessened by rectangular dormers with pronounced cornices, pilasters, and diamond-paned casement windows. A heavy veranda, supported by Ionic columns, wraps around the west and south elevations and a two story porch on the south elevation is also sustained by Ionic columns. A brick chimney climbs from the rusticated concrete block foundation, through a first story bay window, until it is well above the roof ridge. But the turret and chimney, lingering elements of a more delicate Queen Anne style, are subservient here to the "four-square" solidity of teh house, and the elements of irregularity are well controlled by broad proportions and heavier scale.
A recent mutli-colored paint scheme, base on current San Francisco president, has made the house a visual landmark in the area.
William Hamilton, who first owned this house when it was built in 1905, was a professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, a director of the College Observatory, and Registrar at Beloit College. Under his direction, the College altered the curriculum in an "endeavor to relate the curriculum more immediately to the life of today," a move which resulted in such career-oriented programs as the new departments of Journalism and Home Economics. In 1922, Hamilton facilitated the transition between Presidents Brannon and Eaton by serving as chairman of an interim administrative comittee in charge of the College. |
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