ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES and VERNACULAR BUILDING FORMS
The principal intent of the National Register of Historic Places is to assist in the identification, evaluation, and preservation of America's historic and archeological resources by creating a nationwide list of the most significant examples of each type. Because inclusion on the National Register implies that a listed resource meets standards which have been developed to apply to all similar resources in the nation; federal, state, and local governments and private citizens can use this list to make better informed decisions regarding which resources should be preserved and protected by comparing unlisted resources with those already on the list.
The process of creating this National Register has been complicated because in a nation the size of America there exist a staggering variety of resources which can legitimately claim a place on this list. As a result, one of the principal tasks of the National Register program has been that of identifying and categorizing these resources and then adopting criteria which make it possible to select the most significant examples within each category. A good example of this larger process of identification and categorization has been the creation of the catalog of architectural styles which is used to describe and identify the nation's buildings. The history of this catalog actually begins with those European architects of the Renaissance and Baroque periods who sought to identify and understand the underlying design principles they believed were present in the Greek and Roman buildings of antiquity. One of the methods they devised to study such buildings consisted of assigning them to different categories (or "styles") based on an analysis of their visual characteristics. This was done by describing and labeling the building's component parts and then analyzing how the various parts were used to make up the whole. When enough buildings having a similar appearance had been analyzed to create a consensus of opinion as to their common characteristics, they were given a descriptive name (such as Greek or Roman) which was then called a "style". When the formal study of architectural history began in the early nineteenth century this method became a standard interpretive tool because categorizing buildings according to style proved to be of great value in giving a sense of coherence to the historic progression of architecture and to the design of the built environment.
The subsequent efforts of several generations of architectural historians resulted in the creation of a long list of architectural styles and the process of adding new names to this list and refining the definitions of existing ones continues to this day. The ongoing nature of this process must be emphasized because existing stylistic definitions are sometimes modified and even superseded by newer, more accurate ones when knowledge about historic buildings increases and understanding of common stylistic characteristics becomes more sophisticated. When the National Register program first started, for example, a whole group of late-nineteenth century buildings were lumped together under the general heading of the "picturesque style" for want of a better name. Today this term is no longer in use, having been superseded by several more narrowly defined and accurate ones. Consequently, an updated catalog of architectural styles has been incorporated in each successive version of the National Park Service's (NPS) Guidelines For Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms (now National Register Bulletin No. 16A) and the evaluation of buildings based on their stylistic characteristics has always been an integral part of the process of assessing the potential National Register eligibility of architectural resources. The NPS' justification for evaluating buildings based on their stylistic characteristics was originally stated in the beginning of the architectural classification listings on p. 54 of Bulletin No. 16A: " The following list [of architectural categories] reflects classification by style and stylistic influence, which is currently the most common and organized system of classifying architectural properties."
The National Park Service's early acceptance of the concept of architectural styles and its subsequent drafting of an approved list of such styles were events of considerable significance for the current study of America's built environment. Because so much of the effort of state and local preservation organizations today centers around placing buildings on the National Register, the criteria used by the National Register automatically become the standard criteria used by each state. Therefore, the net result of the National Register program has been to codify architectural styles at the national level. It is fortunate, then, that the National Register program was set up to treat the process of defining architectural styles as an ongoing one. Definitions used by the National Register are routinely updated as more and better information becomes available from such important sources as intensive surveys such as this one. One of the principal tasks of an intensive survey, after all, is to produce quantitative information about the architectural resources within the area being surveyed. When the results of several intensive surveys are compared and synthesized, our understanding of the evolution and distribution of architectural resources is increased accordingly and this is sometimes manifested in revised and expanded stylistic definitions.
The importance of the National Register as an influence on other, more specialized studies of the nation's buildings can best be shown by examining its influence on such works as the Comprehensive Resource Management Plan (CRMP) published in 1986 by the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Historic Preservation. This multi-volume work is ultimately intended to provide a thematic overview of all the built resources in the state of Wisconsin and one of the themes covered in the three volumes already published is that of Architectural Styles. The CRMP's definitions of the various architectural styles found in Wisconsin are essentially the same as those used by the National Park Service except that those in the CRMP also include information on the Wisconsin manifestations of these styles gleaned from the many intensive surveys the Division of Historic Preservation has conducted. Consequently, these have become the standard stylistic definitions used at the state level to describe Wisconsin's architectural resources and they are used in paraphrased form in the following architectural styles portion of this chapter. Each stylistic definition found on the following pages describes in some detail the way that style was used in the Town of Perry and mentions any manifestations of the style peculiar to these places. The resulting definitions are consistent with those used by the National Park Service but also reflect the local usage found by the intensive survey.
The Town of Perry's first permanent settler was John Brown, who arrived in 1846, its oldest identified extant building is believed to be the NRHP-listed Hauge Log Church, which was built in 1851, and the Town's two unincorporated hamlets contain buildings that represent several of the most important architectural styles that were found in Wisconsin between 1846 and 1956. The resulting stylistic diversity is part of the special architectural heritage of the Town.
Besides surveying those buildings which fall within the standard stylistic definitions, the Town of Perry Intensive Survey also surveyed many vernacular examples of these styles as well. Vernacular examples are ones that were built during the same time period as their more stylistically sophisticated brethren but which are generally simpler, less complex buildings that use only some of the salient design features that are characteristic of a style to achieve a similar, but generally more modest appearance. More often than not such buildings represent a local builder's interpretations of whatever style was popular at the moment. Thus, for every true Greek Revival building there are usually also several vernacular Greek Revival style buildings that exhibit some of the same characteristics such as returned cornices and a front door which is framed by sidelights and a transom light. The Survey also noted some variants of the more common styles that are loosely grouped under the classifications "combined examples" and "transitional examples." Combined examples are created when an addition in a later style is added to a pre-existing building as, for example, when an Craftsman style wing is added to a Queen Anne style house. A transitional example occurs when the original design of a building reflects major characteristics of two or more different types as when a late Greek Revival building contains elements of the Italianate style that supplanted it.
What follows is a catalog of the styles and vernacular forms identified by the Town of Perry Intensive Survey. The style names and the periods of their occurrence are taken directly from the CRMP as are the basic definitions of each style. This is followed by more specific information about the way each style was used in the Town and by a list of addresses of both the most important and the most typical of the intact and extant local examples of each style that were identified by the Survey. Further information on the styles themselves can be found in the second volume of the CRMP and in its bibliography.
Greek Revival (1830 - 1870)
The Greek Revival style was the first national style that was popularly used in Wisconsin and in the Town of Perry. The style characteristics most commonly associated with it include porticos and corner pilasters that use Doric, Ionic or Corinthian Orders; prominent, generally front-facing gables framed with heavy moldings; low-pitched roofs; and classically inspired cornices with returns. The style is generally symmetrical and orderly and features regularly spaced door and window openings, but departures and adaptations from the norm were common depending on the kinds of building materials that were locally available. In addition, there are numerous vernacular structures with limited Greek Revival details such as rectangular massing, regular fenestration patterns, and returned cornices. The style was used for everything from state capitols and churches to stores but was most frequently seen in Wisconsin in residential buildings and churches. While both brick and stone examples exist, the vast majority of such buildings were originally of frame construction and were clad in clapboard siding.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Early photos suggest that some of the Town's earliest residential and commercial buildings and some of its public buildings were built in the Greek Revival Style or its vernacular equivalents. This has proven to be true elsewhere in the state as well in communities of the same early vintage as those in the Town and reflects both the eastern heritage of many of the early settlers and builders and the predominance of frame construction in its earliest buildings. While the Town of Perry's two unincorporated hamlets and its rural areas originally contained numerous Greek Revival style and Greek Revival style-influenced residences and other types of buildings, very few survive today and only one was found that still retains its style-defining features in an intact state. This is the NRHP-listed Hauge Log Church, which was originally built out of logs in 1852.(1) The church was then later sided over with clapboards and was given the returned eaves that are one of the Greek Revival style's most frequently seen characteristics. Although no longer in use, this building is still exceptionally well maintained and both the exterior and interior of this church still retain an extraordinary degree of integrity.
1359 CTH Z Hauge Log Church 1852
Endnote:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, pp. 189-190 (illustrated). See also: Gould, Whitney Mason and Zane Williams. Historic Places of Rural DaneCounty. Madison: Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, 1981, n.p. There is a photo of the exterior of the church on the rear cover of this book and another photo of the interior and a brief history inside.
Gothic Revival (1850-1880)
The Gothic Revival style had its origins in the renewed interest in spirituality and religion that occurred in late eighteenth century England and France as a partial reaction to that period of intensely intellectual activity known as the Enlightenment. This reaction also extended to architecture as well and a period of disenchantment with the orderliness of the classical period of design set in. As a result, some architects turned to the Gothic period as a source of both spiritual and architectural inspiration and the results became known as the Gothic Revival style.
The most common design element of the Gothic Revival style is the pointed arch. Other Gothic Revival features include steeply pitched roofs, pinnacles, exaggerated hood molds over windows and doors and the use of "Gothic" style curvilinear ornament on and about the bargeboards under the eaves, elaborate examples often being called "Carpenters' Gothic." The style proved especially popular for religious buildings, which were often built of stone but occasionally also of wood. Religious buildings in the Gothic Revival style generally used a basilican plan; but numerous cruciform plan churches were also constructed.
Residential examples of the style almost always include such features as steeply-pitched gables, decorative bargeboards, a verandah or porch, and on larger examples sometimes a tower or turret. A variety of building materials were used, but the general appearance was monochromatic.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
DA 186/14-16 1051 STH 78 Perry Norwegian Lutheran Church 1856-1861/1878/1903/1935/1961
The oldest of these churches is the Perry Norwegian Lutheran Church in the hamlet of Daleyville, which is also, ironically the most altered as well. The original part of the this stone church was begun in 1858 and completed in 1861, and this portion was repaired after being damaged in the great tornado of 1878 and was given a new stone steeple in 1903 following a lightning strike. The rear of the church was extended and remodeled in 1914 and the church survived in that form until in 1935, when another lighting strike caused a fire that left just its stone walls standing. The church that we see today is the rebuilt 1935 church to which a large stone education wing was added in 1961. While the Perry Lutheran Church has been too altered to be listed in the NRHP it is nevertheless one of the most prominent and beloved landmarks in the Town of Perry and in southwest Dane County and is eminently worthy of preservation.(1)
DA 203/11 10070 Spring Valley Rd. Holy Redeemer R.C. Church 1916
The Holy Redeemer R.C. Church is a fine example of the later Gothic Revival style and was built in 1916 to a design furnished by Milwaukee architect John Paulu. The church sits on a cut stone foundation that encloses a basement story and the walls above are clad in dark brown brick trimmed with limestone. The church occupies a beautiful hilltop site that had been the site of the congregation's first church, a stone Romanesque Revival style building built in 1861 that was demolished in 1915 to make way for the new and larger church. All the brick for the new church was hauled to the site from Mt. Horeb on horse-drawn sleds by members of the 25-family congregation, who also quarried all the stone for the foundation and donated $12,000 for the building's completion.(2) This building is still in a highly intact and well maintained state today and it is still in use by its congregation and is believed to eligible for listing in the NRHP for its architectural significance.
In addition to the two extant examples of Gothic Revival style church design discussed above, a third example was also once located in the Town as well. This was the Hauge Evangelical Lutheran Church, a clapboard-clad example built in 1887 that was located on the south side of CTH A adjacent to its still extant cemetery. This church was built as a replacement for the original Hauge Log Church and it served its congregation until 1981, when it was demolished.(3)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, pp. 191-197 (illustrated). See also: Perry Ev. LutheranChurch: 100th Anniversary, 1854-1954. Daleyville, WI: 1954 (illustrated).
2. Ibid, pp. 84, 198-199 (illustrated). See also: Breines, Rev. Andrew R.. (pastor). Holy Redeemer Mission, Perry, Wisconsin: 1861-1961. Madison: Craftsman Press Corp., 1961.
3. Ibid, pp. 190-191 (illustrated)
Italianate (1850-1880)
The typical hallmarks of the many high-style Italianate residences in Wisconsin are wide eaves with brackets, low-pitched hipped or gabled roofs, and often a polygonal or square cupola placed on the roof. These buildings are typically either "T,” “L," cruciform, or square in plan, they frequently have smaller ells attached to the rear of the main block, and they tend to have boxy proportions. Other common characteristics include verandahs or loggias, bay windows, balustraded balconies, and tall windows with hood molds or pediments, Italianate Style residences are typically two stories in height and they are typically clad in either clapboard, brick, and, less frequently, in stone.
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No true examples of the Italianate style residences were found in the Town of Perry but the Survey found two houses in the town whose design displays Italianate style influences. Interestingly, both of these houses are built out of stone and both are among the Town's most architecturally significant residences.
DA 186/23 10779 Evergreen Ave. Onon B. Dahle House 1864
The oldest of the Town's Italianate style-influenced houses is also one of the oldest extant intact buildings in the Town. This is the highly intact Onon B. Dahle house located at 10799 Evergreen Ave. in the hamlet of Daleyville. Daleyville was founded by Dahle (Daley is an Americanization of the original spelling), whose general store at this location (non-extant) he opened in 1853, and his house was built in 1864. His house is built out of stone and has a two-story-tall block having a shallow-pitched hip roof whose overhanging eaves are supported by paired brackets, and a less tall kitchen wing is attached to the block's rear elevation. The main elevation of the house faces north, it is symmetrical in design and five-bay-wide, and its design could just as easily be defined as belonging to the Greek Revival style were it not for the bracketed frieze that encircles the house. Therefore, the Dahle house can be considered a very fine example of a transitional Greek Revival style-Italianate style design and it also has a high degree of integrity as well. Consequently, it is believed to be individually eligible for listing in the NRHP.(1)
DA 204/09-12 693 STH 78 Hans Grinder Family Farmhouse ca.1870s
The centerpiece of the Hans Grinder Family Farm is its farmhouse, which is one of the most notable buildings in the Town of Perry. This is a two-story-tall, square plan, Italianate style-influenced building that is believed to have been built by Hans Grinder in the 1870s out of stone that was quarried on the farm. The house's quarry-faced stone foundation supports walls above that made entirely out of large dressed limestone blocks, and these walls are sheltered by a hip roof whose overhanging eaves are visually supported by paired wooden brackets. An historic photo of the house dated 1905 that is still in the Grinder family's possession shows that the house is still largely intact today and it is believed to be eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion C (Architecture) as an excellent, intact example of stone construction.(2)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 36 (illustrated). See also: Mandel, David. Settlers of DaneCounty: The Photographs of Andreas Larsen Dahl. Madison: Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, 1985, pp. 79-81 (illustrated).
2. Ibid, pp. 68-69 (#37) (illustrated).
Queen Anne (1880-1910)
Most American examples of the Queen Anne style are residential buildings and because the period of this style's greatest popularity coincided with a period of enormous suburban growth in America, extant examples are numerous and now virtually define the Victorian period house in the popular imagination. Queen Anne style houses can be identified by their apparently irregular plans, complex use of often classically inspired ornamentation, and asymmetrical massing. The designs of these buildings often include polygonal bay windows, round or polygonal turrets, wrap-around verandahs, and steeply-pitched multi-gable or combination gable and hip roofs which usually have a dominate front-facing gable. Use of a variety of surface materials, roof shapes, and wall projections are all typical in Queen Anne designs and are represented in a seemingly endless number of different combinations. Shingle or clapboard siding is common, and they are often combined in the same building, sometimes above a brick first story.
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Queen Anne style houses are the most frequently encountered examples of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century high style architecture in the Town of Perry. The Intensive Survey surveyed five residential examples of the Queen Anne style, three of which are among the most architecturally impressive late nineteenth and early twentieth century residential buildings in the Town. These houses, however, lack the wealth of detailing that is usually associated with the best examples of this style but this is also true in most other communities in Wisconsin and is indicative of the expense involved in creating really elaborate Queen Anne style designs. Most home builders of the period were content to use just the more basic design elements associated with the style such as more complex, irregular, and often larger floor plans, combining two or three different patterns of wood shingles to side the upper floors and gable ends, and making use of several dormers of different sizes and sizable porches decorated with varying degrees of trim. Other typical features include the use of variegated surface materials, multiple dormers, bay and oriel windows, and towers and turrets.
Regardless of the number of design elements or the varieties of materials used, the surveyed Queen Anne style houses in the Town of Perry are all cruciform plan and T-plan houses that are usually topped with multi-gable or gable and hip roofs.
The intact surveyed examples of the cruciform or T-plan type are:
DA 203/18-20 Lunn Family Farmhouse 980 CTH H
DA 204/20-23 Burgeson/Johnson Family Farmhouse 10653 CTH A
DA 204/14-16 Johnson/Olson Family Farmhouse 724 STH 78
DA 205/15-18 Sanders Family Farmhouse 1277 CTH Z
DA 203/04-06 Keller or Haag Family Farmhouse 10152 Spring Valley Rd.
Nearly all the above listed houses are clad in wooden clapboards. While the Keller or Haag Family farmhouse has recently been reclad in wood shingles, it too was probably originally a clapboard-clad example as well.
American Craftsman (1900-1920)
Like the associated Arts and Crafts style, the American Craftsman style had its origins in the work of English architects and designers who sought a new approach to house design by using simplified elements of traditional vernacular houses to produce a comprehensive design in which exterior and interior elements worked together to produce a unified whole. Unlike Arts and Crafts designs, however, the American Craftsman style did not choose to imitate its English heritage. Instead, by applying the basic principles of Arts and Crafts design to American needs and building materials, designers such as Wisconsin native Gustave Stickley were able to fashion buildings having a specifically American appearance. The American Craftsman style is characterized by quality construction and simple, well-crafted exterior and interior details. Natural materials are used both inside and out in a manner appropriate to each and wood is by far the most common material used both inside and out with brick, stucco, and wood shingles also being typical exterior building materials. Frequently the exteriors of American Craftsman style houses use broad bands of contrasting materials (such as wood shingles above stucco) to delineate different stories. American Craftsman style homes usually have broad gable or hipped main roofs with one or two large front dormers and widely overhanging eaves, exposed brackets or rafters, and prominent chimneys. Most designs also feature multi-light windows having simplified Queen Anne style sash patterns. Open front porches whose roofs are supported by heavy piers are a hallmark of the style, and glazed sun porches and open roofed wooden pergola-like porches are also common.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Craftsman Style buildings are not plentiful in the Town, only three examples having been surveyed, but the best ones use the most of the stylistic elements listed above. Interestingly, all three of the surveyed examples are clad in brick and they are all houses. The finest and largest of these is the Perry Norwegian Lutheran Church Parsonage located in the hamlet of Daleyville. This fine house was built in 1919 and it was the third parsonage built by that church and it is still in excellent condition today.(1)
DA 186/09 10828 CTH A Third Perry Norwegian Lutheran Church Parsonage 1919
The other two residential examples are:
DA 186/05 642 Perry Center Rd. Anderson Family Farmhouse (2)
DA 186/08 10859 CTH A Ole & Hilda Stensby House(3) Hamlet of Daleyville
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 49 (illustrated) (#55).
2. Ibid, p. 101 (#20).
3. Ibid, pp. 64-65 (#25). This house was built in the 1920s.
American Foursquare (1900-1930)
A residential style popularized by builders across the country, the American Foursquare is easily identified by its box-like form and broad proportions. As the name implies, examples of this style are often square in plan although examples having a slightly rectilinear plan are also very common. Examples are almost always two or two-and-a-half stories in height and usually have a shallow-pitched hip roof, widely overhanging eaves, and centrally placed dormers which are occasionally placed on each of the four slopes of the more elaborate hip roofed examples. Entrance doors were originally almost always sheltered by porches and most examples of the style feature a one-story, full-width front porch which is often supported by Tuscan columns. Exterior materials include brick, stucco, concrete block, clapboard or wood shingles, or combinations of these materials. American Craftsman style-influenced designs often alternate exterior finishes by floor, creating a banded appearance. Decoration is minimal, though some of the better examples are embellished with period details or American Craftsman style details such as porch piers decorated with trellis-like abstract designs which, in the finest examples, strongly suggest membership in another stylistic category such as the Colonial Revival or Prairie School styles. Never-the-less, the overall proportions of even the most elaborate of these buildings always give them away and reveals their American Foursquare style roots.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED
American Foursquare style houses were the most frequently surveyed early twentieth century styles found in the Town, four examples having been surveyed. Clapboard-sided examples of the style were the most common and the most intact examples include:
DA 204/13 10488 Docken Rd. Ole Bakken Family Farmhouse(1)
DA 205/07-08 10517 CTH A Grinstvedt/Swenson Family Farmhouse(2)
DA 205/04-06 805 CTH H Knudston Family Farmhouse(3)
Examples of the American Foursquare style built of brick were less common, only one having been surveyed.
DA 204/03-05 1625 CTH H Post Family Farmhouse 1918(4)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 178 (#25).
2. Ibid, p. 72 (#48).
3. Ibid, p. 97 (#5).
4. Ibid, p. 77 (#3).
Bungalow (1910-1940)
The term Bungalow has the unusual distinction of being both the name of a style and the generic name for a particular type of small residential building. Consequently, it is quite usual to speak of Colonial Revival style Bungalows when describing some houses of small size having pronounced Colonial Revival style design elements even as it is usual to speak of other houses as being in the Bungalow style. Bungalow style houses themselves are generally small-sized, have either square or rectilinear floor plans, and are usually one-story-tall. When a second story is needed, it is placed under the slope of the main roof in order to maintain the single story appearance and dormers are typically used to admit light. Bungalow designs typically have a horizontal emphasis and are covered with wide, projecting gable or hip roofs which often have protruding rafter ends or brackets supporting the eaves. On almost every example of the style the front door is sheltered by a porch and full-width front porches are commonplace. The roofs of these porches are often supported by piers having a battered shape although many other shapes can be found depending on the amount of influence other styles had in the overall design. Horizontal clapboard siding is the usual exterior surface material for these buildings although stucco, concrete block, brick veneer, wood shingle and even log examples are also found. Detailing is usually structural rather than ornamental and features plain, well-executed woodwork.
Occasionally, Bungalows feature design elements borrowed from other styles such as the Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Prairie School styles and sometimes these other styles are so dominant that they take precedent over the Bungalow style. In general, though, Bungalows can be divided into three principal types: side-gabled; front-gabled; and hip-roofed. Each type can have either square or rectilinear plans and can be either one or one-and-a-half stories tall and their exteriors can be surfaced in any one of the materials listed above or in combinations of them.
Only one example of the Bungalow style was surveyed in the Town and it has an unusual history. This house began life as a part of a mill that was built in 1880, and which was cut in half in 1920 and converted into two Bungalow style houses that are located side by side in Daleyville.(1) Only one of these two still retains integrity and it is listed below.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
DA 186/22 1088 STH 78 Daleyville Mill/Dr. E. D. & Lenore McQuillian House ca. 1880/1920
Endnote:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, pp. 40-41 (illustrated).
PERIOD REVIVAL STYLES (1900-1940)
The phrase "period revival" is a generic term used to describe the many different historic styles and design elements that architects revived and reinterpreted for modern use in the first decades of the twentieth century. These "period" designs were the products of the scholarly study of architectural history and they began to exert more and more influence on architectural design as the nineteenth century matured. By the turn-of-the- century, the study of architectural precedent had become a basic part of architectural training and resulted in buildings which were increasingly careful copies of historic styles. The most accurate copies were usually produced for houses and churches; two building types for which historic models actually existed. More often, though, architects were confronted with the challenge of producing designs for building types for which there were no historic precedents such as high-rise office buildings and gas filling stations.
The Town of Perry has almost no examples of the Period Revival styles since their period of occurrence does not correspond to a period of growth in the Town.
Colonial Revival (1900-1940)
Interest in America's historic Colonial Period architecture increased at the end of the nineteenth century at a time when a reaction to the stylistic excesses of the Queen Anne style was beginning to set in. The greater simplicity of Colonial examples gave new houses designed in this manner a fresh, modern appeal. The Colonial Revival style is simple and regular in design and typically features symmetrically placed windows and central doors. Usually, these buildings are two stories in height, they have exteriors sided in either clapboards or wood shingles, although brick and even stone examples are also found. Many Colonial Revival houses have an L shaped plan but most examples have rectilinear plans and post World War I examples often have an attached garage. Symmetrical designs are typical but not invariable. Borrowing architectural detailing from genuine Georgian, Federal, and Dutch Colonial examples is typical in Colonial Revival buildings although such details are usually not elaborate. These features include classically derived main entrances and front (and side) entrance porches that are typically supported by simple one-story-tall classical order columns and are topped by pediments. Other popular features include corner pilasters, denticulated cornices, and shutters. The great majority of Colonial Revival designs have simple gable roof designs although hip roof examples are also found, and dormers are also popular features.
The Colonial Revival style is primarily a residential one and although buildings designed in the style were occasionally quite grand, most were medium size houses and these were built in vast numbers all across America. Indeed, so enduring has the popularity of this style been that many modern homes in Wisconsin and elsewhere still imitate it. Not surprisingly, these houses come in many shapes and forms. Many are highly symmetrical in design but others are quite informal and rambling, it all depended on the particular historic precedent each was trying to emulate. Wall cladding also varies considerably. Houses clad entirely in stucco, brick, stone, wooden clapboards, or steel that imitates wooden clapboards are plentiful but so also are examples that mix these various materials, although few if any mix more than two kinds at once. Despite this variety of designs and materials, however, the use of some elements such as double hung multi-light windows, main roofs that have very shallow boxed eaves, and main entrance doors that typically have some classical allusions, is relatively consistent.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Only one example of the Colonial Revival style was surveyed in the Town and it follows a symmetrical design precedent:
DA 186/03 9992 CTH A Ilow & Ruth Peterson House Hamlet of Forward(1)
Endnote:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 103.
Contemporary Style (1946- )
The Contemporary Style is a provisional term which is applied to the vast numbers of buildings built after World War II that are truly modern in inspiration and which owe nothing to past designs or historic examples. Unfortunately, because the scholarly effort that will eventually categorize these buildings into styles is still in its infancy, nothing can be said at this time to characterize such buildings, nor are most of them eligible for inclusion in the NRHP, which normally accepts only those buildings that are 50 years old or older. Never-the-less, it is important that intensive surveys such as this one try to identify buildings that, by virtue of their excellent design, may eventually be eligible for inclusion in the NRHP.
The survey of the Town of Perry identified only one Contemporary Style building in the survey areas that should be considered for further study in the future. This is the house located at 1400 County Highway Z in Section 5. There may be other houses in the Town that are of equal quality as well, but they are hidden from public view and could not be surveyed.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
DA 203/13 1400 CTH Z House
Boomtown Style (ca.1850-1900)
The Boomtown Style was a predecessor of the Commercial Vernacular form and it continued to be built alongside it until nearly the end of the nineteenth century. Boomtown Style buildings — sometimes also called "false front" buildings — were almost always intended to house a commercial enterprise and they can most easily be described as a simple one or two story Front Gable form building whose front-facing gable end has been completely hidden by a full width vertical extension of the main wall surface below. This vertical extension usually takes the form of a tall parapet wall that has either a flat or shaped cornice and this extension typically completely covers the building's front-facing gable end. Such buildings are typically associated with the earliest period of commercial development in a community and were intended to appear as more substantial buildings than they really were. Because the illusion they create is most effective when seen from directly in front, Boomtown Style buildings were most successful when placed adjacent to other examples in tightly packed rows. When seen in isolation, of course, as most rural examples are, the illusion is much more difficult to sustain.
Boomtown Style buildings were almost always built of wood, this typically being the most readily obtainable material in a growing community, and they were intended to be replaced by larger buildings made of more substantial materials as soon as economically feasible. Consequently, examples of this style are no longer common because they were usually replaced by later, larger and more substantial fireproof buildings or, if the community did not flourish as hoped, by some other type of building or by nothing at all.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Two examples of the Boomtown Style were found in the Town of Perry and both of these are or were originally clad in clapboards. One of these buildings, the Gladen & Hanson Store Building in the hamlet of Forward, built in 1898, is an especially intact two-story example of the style and is believed to be potentially individually eligible for listing in the NRHP because rural examples of this style are scare and are an endangered property type, and because it represents the only surviving resource associated with the history of commerce in this community.
DA 186/04 9998 CTH A Gladen & Hanson Store Building 1898 Hamlet of Forward(1)
The following is the other example of the Boomtown Style that was surveyed in the Town .
DA 186/20 1079 STH 78 Gunhild Thorhaug Dressmaker's Shop Hamlet of Daleyville(2)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 102 (illustrated).
2. Ibid, p. 43 (illustrated).
VERNACULAR FORMS
One of the most important developments that has come from a generation of intensive surveys has been the realization that an undistorted understanding of the totality of the built environment of America cannot be achieved by looking only at those buildings designed using the "high" styles. Such buildings account for only a small percentage of the total number of existing buildings and intensive surveys have repeatedly documented the fact that buildings which lie outside the normal stylistic categories (collectively called vernacular buildings) play a crucial role in defining the look of the American landscape.
In order to better understand this role it has been necessary to develop a new set of categories to aid in the identification of these vernacular buildings. This effort has been greatly aided by intensive surveys such as this one which produce a systematic record of the environment when the data they contain is combined. This record then becomes the data base which researchers have used in developing the various categories of vernacular buildings currently in use. Because these categories are based on the appearance or form of identified buildings the names they have been given are descriptive in nature and are called "forms" rather than "styles." It needs to be emphasized that this process of identification and analysis is an ongoing one and that the names and definitions of the forms listed here may be subject to revision as new data is found and analyzed.
Front Gable (ca.1840-1925)
The Front Gable form is predominately found on small to medium-sized residences which have a rectangular plan and a simple gable roof, with the major facade of the building being that which is terminated vertically by the front- facing gable end. One-and-a-half story examples are the most common in Wisconsin, but one, two, and two-and-a-half story versions also occur. One-and-a-half story examples frequently have dormers on one or both roof planes. The front-facing principal facades are typically symmetrical and some have small entry porches or an uncovered stoop while others have full-width front porches having shed or hipped roofs. Ornamentation is generally simple, consisting of such details as turned porch posts, decorative shingles, oversize parlor windows sometimes including etched or stained glass transoms, and simply detailed sills and windows. Earlier examples are usually narrow in width and in proportion and have steeply pitched roofs; later versions are broader with more gently sloped roofs. The front gable form is usually a wood frame structure sided with clapboard. Less frequently, these buildings were sided in wood shingles, stucco, or brick. In addition, many twentieth century examples of this form are found more appropriately within the Bungalow style.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Only two examples of the Front Gable form were surveyed in the Town of Perry. The first of these is a residential example located in the Hamlet of Daleyville.
DA 186/18 1072 STH 78 Olaus & Ingeborg Thompson House 1895(1)
The Front Gable form was also applied to non-residential buildings as well and the Town's other surveyed example of the form is a school. This is the former one or two-room Meadow View School, which is a red brick-clad one-story building that was built as a school ca.1905 and which has since been converted into a residence and substantially altered.
DA 204/18 188 STH 78 Meadow View School ca.1905
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, pp. 45-46 (#40).
2. Ibid, pp. 117, 121 (#14). See also: Drury, John. This is Dane County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Inland Photo Co., 1960, p. 532 (illustrated).
Side Gable (ca.1840-1940)
This is a very common Wisconsin residential form whose characteristic features consist of rectangular plans and, usually, gentle-pitched gable roof. The major facade is placed on the long wall with gable ends being placed perpendicular to the street. The form is found in one, two, and three-story versions but is most often found in half-story versions, the one-and-one-half-story version being especially common. Buildings in this style are characteristically covered with clapboard but fieldstone, cut stone,, and brick examples are also found. Very early versions may be of timber-framed, half- timbered, or even of log construction. Early versions are generally narrower and less tall than later examples and wings extended off the rear of the main block were popular, both as original features and as additions.
Window openings are typically regularly spaced. A front porch, often having small brackets or turned posts, is frequently the only embellishment and these porches usually have shed, flat, or slightly hipped roofs. In addition, like the Front Gable form, many twentieth century examples of the Side Gable form are placed more appropriately within the Bungalow style. Side Gable houses are often somewhat larger than their Front Gable counterparts.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Seven examples of the Side Gable form were surveyed in the Town. Five of these buildings are residences and three are or were originally clad in clapboard, although a single stone-clad example was surveyed as well. This is the Gulbert & Bertha Jensvold House located in the hamlet of Daleyville. This fine house is now empty and seriously threatened but it was built ca.1868 and is one of the finest of the early stone houses identified by the Survey and it is believed that this building is potentially eligible for listing in the NRHP.(1)
DA 186/10-12 ca.1033 STH 78 Gulbert & Bertha Jensvold House ca.1868 Hamlet of Daleyville
Four other residential examples that were surveyed are listed below.
DA 186/17 1064 STH 78 House Hamlet of Daleyville(2)
DA 186/19 1075 STH 78 Thore & Julia Smesrud House Hamlet of Daleyville(3)
DA 186/06 10073 CTH A Knudtson Family Farmhouse(4)
DA 203/04-06 10194 Spring Valley Rd. Keller/Haag/Sutter Family Farmhouse(5)
In addition to the five residences, the Survey also identified two former cheese factories that are also examples of the Side Gable form, both of which have since been converted into residences.
DA 205/13 10824 North Perry Rd. Moen Cheese Factory/North Perry Cheese Factory(6)
DA 203/10 10105 Spring Valley Rd. Spring Valley Cheese Factory(7)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 62 (illustrated).
2. Ibid, pp. 47-48 (#45).
3. Ibid, pp. 44-45 (#38).
4. Ibid, p. 101 (#19).
5. Ibid, p. 82 (#17-18).
6. Ibid, p. 177 (#22).
7. Ibid, p. 82 (#21).
Gabled Ell (ca.1860-1910)
A common nineteenth century residential vernacular form, the Gabled Ell form combines elements of both early front and side-gabled vernacular buildings and resembles them in construction materials, simplicity, and proportions. The gabled ell includes cruciform plan buildings as well as those with the more common "L" or "T" plans. The usual appearance of the main facade of the house is that of two gable-roofed wings of equal (or more typically) unequal height joined perpendicular to each other. Gabled Ell houses were built in a variety of heights, though most common is the one-story longitudinal wing connected to the one-story wing or "upright." Examples where both sections are of the same height are also common. The main entrance to these buildings is usually through a porch placed at the juncture of the ell on the main facade. The porch may reveal the only ornamental details, such as brackets, turned posts, and a balustrade. Window openings on gabled ell houses are generally regular. These buildings typically rest on low foundations and porch stairs are short. Clapboard was most commonly used on Gabled Ell buildings, although stone and brick examples exist as well.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Like Side Gable Form examples, Gable Ell form houses are typically larger than their Front Gable form counterparts. Most of Dane County's Gable Ell houses tend to be clad in clapboard, but there are fine brick and stone examples as well. Only one example of the Gable Ell form was surveyed in the Town of Perry, however. While other examples are scattered throughout the Town, none of these had sufficient integrity to meet Survey criteria. The single surveyed example is listed below and it has been recently restored and enlarged.
DA 203/21-23 9549 Lee Valley Rd. Anderson/Nelson Family Farmhouse(1)
Endnote:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994,. p. 110 (#8).
Two-Story Cube (c.1850-80)
The Two-Story-Cube form is limited to residential buildings and can be identified by its boxy, square proportions, hipped and rather steeply pitched roofs having only slightly overhanging eaves, and lack of surface ornamentation or elements typically containing historic references save only simple classical order porch posts, most examples being examples of the Tuscan Order. Exterior siding include brick, clapboard, and occasionally stucco. Windows are symmetrically placed across the facade in simple frames or, in brick structures, with flat lintels and sills. The main door is usually located at the center of the front facade. A hip roofed porch typically crosses the front facade or at least covers the entrance door. Porch posts on earlier examples are sometimes turned and the porches often feature ornamental brackets. In some examples, gablets are placed on the main roof, but dormers are rare. Early 20th century examples usually reflect American Foursquare details such as offset front doorways, Tuscan Order porch columns, and enclosed porch railings.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
The Two-Story-Cube form was the most frequently encountered vernacular form residence in the Town of Perry, six examples having been surveyed. All of these are or were originally clad in clapboard and they were probably, in most cases, the second farmhouse on their respective farms. Of these, the Goli/berg family farmhouse is especially notable for its large size and extended two-story wing.
DA 203/25-27 10916 Spring Creek Rd. Boley Family Farmhouse(1)
DA 203/15-16 1004 STH 78 John & Alpha Stensby Farmhouse 1911(2)
DA 203/14 10964 CTH A Thore Grundahl Family Farmhouse 1910(3)
DA 205/09-12 666-670 STH 78 Syftestad Family Farmhouse(4)
DA 203/24 9664 Lee Valley Rd. Jacobson Family Farmhouse(5)
DA 205/14 10888 Berg Rd. Goli/Berg Family Farmhouse(6)
Endnotes:
1. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p. 59 (#10).
2. Ibid, p. 71 (#44). See also: Daleyville Doings, January 11, 1911; May 24, 1911; Dec. 20, 1911.
3. Ibid, p. 66 (#32). See also: Daleyville Doings, February 10, 1909; April 1, 1909; April 28, 1909, May 12, 1909.
4. Ibid, p. 70 (#39).
5. Ibid, p. 109 (#3).
6. Ibid, pp. 119-120 (#5 or 6).
AGRICULTURAL OUTBUILDINGS
Agricultural outbuildings can be simply defined as all those buildings that are found on a farmstead other than the farmhouse itself that are and have historically been primarily devoted to the practice of agriculture.
Wisconsin has a long and diverse agricultural history. The third wave of settlers, after the fur traders and miners, was farmers ready to till the deep, rich soil. Yankee settlers brought eastern farming methods, as well as its traditions of constructing barns and other outbuildings. Immigrants from Europe brought Old World agricultural traditions to Wisconsin. Environmental conditions in Wisconsin and unlimited opportunities for innovation led Yankee and European settlers alike to experiment with little known crops and build structures to accommodate them.
The diversity of crops grown in Wisconsin and the varied backgrounds of settlers to the state resulted in construction of a vast array of agricultural outbuildings. In 1983 the Division [of Historic Preservation] began to develop a list of the types of agricultural outbuildings that occur in the state. The list was useful in entering information in the computer on properties that had been inventoried over the years and improved the field identification of outbuildings by surveyors. In 1985 the list was expanded and definitions for each type of building were developed. The definitions were reviewed by the state's experts on agricultural history and architecture, and amended accordingly.
The information in this section [of the CRMP] constitutes the Division's first attempt to delineate agricultural outbuildings by form and function. Much more needs to be learned. Although the knowledge of agricultural history is well-documented in many areas, a correlation between crops, technology, ethnicity, and architecture cannot always be made. With further field investigation and research, the list of term will no doubt be expanded and the buildings will be better understood.(1)
Twenty-one years later, the identification and study of Wisconsin's agriculture-related farm buildings is still very much an ongoing project for the Division of Historic Preservation (DHP) and while a much greater understanding of this aspect of the state's built environment now exists, much more still needs to happen before scholars and surveyors are comfortable assessing the probable NRHP significance of farm buildings encountered in surveys such as this one. Part of the problem is that farm buildings are not readily identifiable by date of construction; a gable-roofed bank barn having a basement story built with stone, for instance, could have been built in the late 1870s but it could just as easily have been built in the 1910s. The same is true for smaller outbuildings as well, and even when farm buildings exhibit features such as poured concrete that are clearly based on the evolution of technology, dating such a building can still be problematic since such a feature may actually represent an improvement made to an older building at a later date. This last issue also raises the question of integrity, which is a major factor in determining if a building is eligible for NRHP listing or not. In addition. many of the tools that are used to date buildings in urban and suburban settings cannot be used in rural areas. Many basic tools used in urban research such as Sanborn-Perris fire insurance maps are not available for rural areas, and using historic real estate tax records (when they exist) is problematic at best since changes in values can be ascribed to a number of different factors and may or may not represent when a particular building was built. In addition, most rural areas are poorly reported by area newspapers and this lack of news also removes yet one more potentially valuable research tool.
Consequently, reconnaissance and intensive surveys of agricultural outbuildings in rural areas such as the Town of Perry are still conducted in much the same fashion as the earliest surveys of urban areas. When looking at diary barns, for instance, surveyors still look for the largest or the most unusual examples (stone or brick wall construction, for instance, or centric forms such as Octagon barns) and hope that they will later find some means of dating and assigning significance to them. But if the ability to assign significance to individual agricultural outbuildings is still limited, three decades of surveying rural properties has satisfied the DHP that farmsteads that contain an intact collection of historic outbuildings and an intact farmhouse are now so rare that they constitute a property type that can be eligible for listing in the NRHP simply because it is an intact historic farmstead. Obviously, the degree of integrity that such a farmstead must possess is quite high and the rural context in which it is located matters too, but the result is somewhat analogous to that of historic districts, wherein the value of the whole is believed to be greater than that of its component parts. Thus, an intact nineteenth century bank barn or an intact Two-Story-Cube vernacular form farmhouse would probably not be eligible for NRHP listing on their own merits, but viewing these buildings and other associated intact outbuildings as a farmstead may give them a collective significance that can provide valuable information about the past, and assessing them on this basis may make it possible to list them in the NRHP.
EXTANT RESOURCES SURVEYED:
Four barns in the Town of Perry had been surveyed previously and these barns were resurveyed for this Survey as well. Only one, however, possesses characteristics that are unique enough to justify listing it individually in the NRHP. This is the outstanding barn that was built on the Syftestad Farm, it being a large L-plan bank barn that appears to have been built in two stages out of locally quarried limestone. Barns built out of stone in Wisconsin are extremely rare and this example is one of the largest and finest in the state.
DA 205/09-12 666-670 STH 78 Syftestad Family Farm Complex
The other three previously surveyed barns in the Town were all resurveyed for the Intensive Survey in order to ascertain if they were still extant and if they had undergone changes since they had been first surveyed. None of these barns is distinctive enough to justify NRHP listing but all three are part of the historic heritage of the Town and contribute to its overall sense of place.
DA 205/03 10217 Blue Valley Rd. Schmidt/Smith Barn(2)
DA 205/19-20 10093 Spring Valley Rd. Goebel Bros. Barn(3)
DA 205/13 10937 Berg Rd. Barn(4)
All the other surveyed barns in the Town of Perry were surveyed as parts of farmsteads and three of these farmstead are believed to be eligible for NRHP listing and are listed in the section of this report entitled: Potentially Eligible Individual Resources.
Endnotes:
1. Wyatt, Barbara (Ed.). Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin. Madison: Division of Historic Preservation, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986, Vol. II, Architecture, p. 5-1.
2. Perry Historical Center. The Historic Perry Norwegian Settlement. Daleyville, WI: The Perry Historical Center, 1994, p.77 (32).
3. Ibid, pp. 82-84 (#22 or 25).
4. Ibid, pp. 119-120 (#5 or 6).
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