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Property Location
| Location (Address) | 808 PARK AVE |
|---|---|
| County | Rock |
| City/Village | Beloit |
| Township | |
| Unincorporated community | |
| Town | |
| Range | |
| Direction | |
| Section | |
| Quarter Section | |
| Quarter Quarter Section |
Property Features
| Year Built | 1906 |
|---|---|
| Additions | |
| Survey Date | 1981 |
| Historic Use | house |
| Architectural Style | Other Vernacular |
| Structural System | |
| Wall Material | Clapboard |
| Architect | |
| Other Buildings On Site | |
| Demolished | No |
| Demolished Date | |
| Additional Comments | Strongly suggestive of the Prairie style in its massing and profile, but employing individual elements as well, the house at 808 Park Avenue is an architecturally significant example of eclective "progressive" architecture in Beloit during the early 20th century. With a low pitched hip roof and broadly extending flared eaves, the two story house has an emphatic horizontal quality. To emphasize the massing, ornament is completely eliminated in favor of plain clapboard siding, corner boards, and simple window frames. But the most remarkable features of the house are six cubic piers: two which anchor the front porch and four which rise above the roof on all four sides like massive stakes securing the house to the ground. Severely rectilinear and symmetrically placed, the piers underscore the geometric lines of the house. Curious Egyptian-like cavetto cornices, flared outward at the crown, reduce any verticality in favor of a strong horizontal terminus. Between the rooftop piers, the east and west walls break through eave line and culminate in hip roof dormers which extend the ridge line of the main roof. On the base of the porch piers, smaller piers intersect to create pyramidal buttresses. Capturing much of the spirit of the Prairie style, the house deploys those elements in an almost idiosyncratic fashion that harmonizes well with the exuberant eclecticism of the Near East Side District. Built in 1906, this house was first owned by E. L. Philhower, a Beloit grocer. |
| Bibliographic References | A. Beloit Tax Rolls, RCHS Archives. B. City of Beloit Directory, 1906. |
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
| National/State Register Listing Name | Near East Side Historic District |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date | Jan 07, 1983 |
| State Register Listing Date | Jan 01, 1989 |
| Contributing | Yes |
Architecture & History Inventory
The Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory (AHI) is a digital source of information on historic buildings, structures, and objects that have been surveyed by the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin. Each property has a digital record providing basic information about the property and images.
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