1995 Featured Homes Original Tour Brochure
890 West Third Street
This stately Italianate home was built in 1879 for Englishman, Jacob Rich. Mr. Rich was a politician and editor who had recently moved from Chicago to Dubuque with his new bride.
In the 30's the home had been divided into apartments and in the 50's suffered the loss of a two story wrap-around porch. Fran and Ellen Henkels bought the home in 1985 and have extensively and sensitively renovated it throughout.
The exterior has been beautifully repainted and is one of only three tri-state homes included in the 1993 book American Painted Ladies. Inside, the house is graced with 12 foot ceilings, five fireplaces, and walnut woodwork in its thirteen rooms. Pocket doors have the letter "R" for Rich etched on them. The Henkels have decorated the home with carefully selected walnut and rosewood Victorian furniture, some built by local artisans. Additionally, a selection of artwork and a collection of Dubuque memorabilia enhance this fine home.
239 Alpine Street
The residence at 239 Alpine, Dubuque, Iowa, presently owned by Kathryn A. and Wayne A. Norman, Jr., was built in 1922 by an attorney and his wife named Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Hazelton. The current owners still have the original blueprints of the house. The house has had only four owners and it changed hands among its owners by word of mouth. It was sold by the Hazeltons to Dr. and Mrs. Theisen. During the 1950's, this part of Alpine Street was the home to so many physicians that it was called "Pill Alley." In the 1960's Dr. and Mrs. Theisen sold the house to friends, John and Ruth Heinz, who owned Betty Jane Home Made Candies, Inc. In 1993, the Normans purchased the home and proceeded to remodel and build an addition. Mrs. Norman's artwork is prevalent throughout the house.
This part of Alpine Street is within the Langworthy Historic Preservation District, and consequently plan approval for construction was required from the Historic Preservation Commission. The Commission expressed a preference for wood siding rather than brick, based upon their interpretation of the U.S. Department of Interior Renovation Guidelines. Consequently, clear redwood three inch lap siding was installed on the addition.
The house is basically Georgian in style, but with French influences, such as the curved dormer roofs, the angled gable ends and French windows in the living room, dining room and master bedroom. The house has many similarities to the home of the artist Claude Monet in Giverny, France, which has similar rooms and French windows.
41 Diagonal Street
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schoenbeck built this family home designed by Fridolin Heer, in 1898-99. The retaining Walls were constructed with rock from the site and laid by horse power with tackle, pulley, and tripod. Mr. Schoenbeck Was born in Germany and came to the Dubuque area when he was twenty-three. He migrated to Alaska before the Gold Rush but returned to court Matilda, daughter of Dr.and Mrs. Robert Nitzsche. After marrying and spending some time in Alaska, the couple settled here and built the home which would accommodate them and her parents. The Nitzsches also built a summer home up on the hill. Schoenbeck was a manager for Northwestern Bell. The home was in the Schoenbeck family until the Vorwalds bought it in 1985.
The woodwork is all pine, including two bathroom which still have their original pine wainscotting. The house has most of its original light fixtures. The kitchen light is a combination gas-electric fixture. One of Jean's interests is china painting, and she has painstakingly decorated walls ,ceilings, and hallways with floral motifs. In the dining room is a large oak china cabinet from a Loetscher mansion. The kitchen has an old tin ceiling. There are five rooms and a bath upstairs. The owners have done all the renovation work themselves, installing new ceilings, stripping wallpaper and woodwork, and restoring the porch.
2609 Broadway
This comfortable family home was built in 1910 by Carl Kliene. The new house was completed with electric lights in some rooms and plumbing was added in 1924. For a while, it was used as a duplex. Tom We1u bought the house in June, 1989. He and Cinda, who had lived across the street for fourteen years, met and married in 1990. They set about the restoration, revealing a hidden treasure.
On the exterior, imitation red-brick siding and a 1950's porch were removed. The hillside, long overgrown with brush and trees, was cleared with the help of a track hoe to lift out the huge stumps. The yard has been thoughtfully landscaped with a pleasing variety of perennials and there are plans to add more roses. The porch was restored and a gazebo built, and the house was trimmed with fretwork and painted in earth colors of browns, green and maroon.
Inside, paneling, carpeting, and wallpaper were removed and the staircase was stripped and stained. A stained glass window was added to the entry, and the walls were insulated.
A lean-to which served as a bathroom was removed from behind the kitchen, and a light-filled breezeway was built. With the exception of building the new carriage house, the owners have done all the work themselves. They enjoy using the 1925 Detroit Jewel "They Bake Better" range and the 1936 G.E. refrigerator. Family treasures from the 1890's through the 1940's fill the home, and a red Canadian Cutter sleigh rests in the carriage house.
2404 Broadway
John King built this stone house in 1857, and sold it to Herman and Anna Bruening in 1859. The original front porch resembled the present one without the decorative millwork. The deep interior trapezoidal-shaped window sills and exterior ground gutters are characteristic of German architecture.
Twenty years later Anna Bruening's son, Herman Sagehorn, built the brick house. The brick does not match precisely, since quantities were limited and had to be purchased from various suppliers. The two homes, which did not share a common entry, were covered with stucco. It remained intact until 1976, when owners Rob and Judy McCoy removed 126 tons of it from the brick and stone.
The McCoys also created three entryways between the two homes. The brick house was gutted and the second story replaced with a loft overlooking a two-story fireplace, which is flanked by twenty-four foot tall bookcases. Ladders to access the books are from the Cascade Drug store. The ceiling in the kitchen-family room shows the original beams of the house. All the glass in the windows of the stone house is original. Further renovations included enlarging the back porch, digging down the basement floor, and adding the decorative retaining walls.
The present owners collect antiques from around the world and are fond of bargains found at flea markets.