1997 Featured Homes Original Tour Brochure
495 West Fifth Street
The Munsell cottage was built in 1846 by Dr. Alexander Munsell, an apothecary. The original home comprised three rooms on one floor, and the style was that of a typical cottage with a hip roof and front porch. The home is situated on a flat area of the bluff with a good view of the city and river. At the time of its construction, terraced vineyards stretched above and below it. The stone terraces were later the setting for formal gardens which were tended by nuns from the cathedral and were open to the public. The stone walls remain today.
The cottage stayed in the Munsell family until 1928. In the late 1800's, a summer kitchen was built. A second floor was added to the house. It now has a mansard roof and spire. Due to the roof design, all windows on the second floor are very deeply set, providing room for window seats. During this upgrade, a bathroom was installed on the second floor. It was reached by a split staircase. One side went to the bathroom and the other to the bedrooms. To use the new room, guests had to go downstairs and then upstairs! The master bedroom did, however, have direct access.
Few additional changes were made to the house until 1993 when the Millers enlarged the kitchen, adding a sitting room and fireplace. The second floor was extended over this area. Presently the summer kitchen and new second floor room are used as studios. In 1994, the house was repainted. It took four months to strip the narrow clapboards in preparation.
The interior woodwork has always been painted. In the dining room is an old chest. Two of the drawers display boards which came from the old Cooper Wagon Works. The home has many other interesting furnishings. The Millers collect brass and copper. The quilt on the staircase took fourth place internationally in a contest sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art.
On the second floor are two bedrooms, two baths, and a sitting room and studio. In the sitting room is a Mennonite step cupboard with its oringal paint. To update the master bedroom, a spare closet and linen closet were removed and a new bath with a window added. The walnut bed and chest-on-chest in the second bedroom belonged to Sidney's parents. The quilt workroom has a door, so one can go out on the terrace.
Al Miller is a prolific artist. The paintings displayed in the home are examples of his work.
971 West Third Street
Built in 1894 by George and Jessie Atkins, this Queen Anne home stands on land originally owned by the Langworthy family. It was sold to three subsequent owners, the last of whom lost it in a sheriff's sale in 1916. Three more owners followed, and the bank repossessed it in 1929. In 1941, the Sandry family bought the house, turned it into apartments, and it remained in their family for 53 years. The Schrobilgens purchased the house in 1994 and returned it to a single family dwelling.
There are three fireplaces in the house. One is in the unique entryway. This area has wainscotting and an impressive open oak stairway, where a three-part stained glass window adds a delicate touch. A closet under the stairs was a washroom and has a built-in dresser. There is a double parlor with a fireplace. The clock on the mantel has been in Jean's family for four generations. The spinet in this room was purchased from Evelyn Hames, a daughter of the Sandrys. The third fireplace is in the dining room. The downstairs bedroom was once the kitchen of the house and now holds an armoire which was used in the movie Field of Dreams. There is also a library with a sunporch on the east side. Another of Jean's treasures, an Enzler family trunk, is displayed here
The walnut commode at the top of the stairs belonged to Derald's grandmother. In the front master bedroom, the turret windows have curved glass in them. The attached bath has all original fixtures, including a shower which works with a key to turn it on. Much of the woodwork in the upstairs is poplar with six-leafed rosettes carved in it. The second upstairs bedroom has an unusual five-windowed bay and Jean's collection of Scotties. The bed and dresser came from Deralds's grandmother. The closet has built-in drawers.
The Schrobilgens call the upper hall the "holy hall" because it includes religious memorabilia and a sick call set from the 1800's. The back bedroom has a dresser made in Galena and a collection of wall pockets and metal framed prints. It was another kitchen when the house was apartments and contains the original kitchen cabinets. In the three years they have owned the house, the owners have stripped and repainted woodwork, repaired plaster, recarpeted, landscaped, and plan to add a deck in back. They enjoy displaying their family treasures, unique antiques, and memorabilia acquired from antique shops and auctions.
205 Hill Street
This stately Federal home was built about 1849 for Lucius Langworthy. He came to Dubuque in 1828 and built a cabin on Mineral Street, now Rosedale Avenue. He had many interests, including mining and banking, and became a member of the legislature and president of the first railroad which came to Dubuque. It is said that he suggested the name "Iowa" for the city, but it was given to the state instead. The house is also known as the "Langworth stone-walled mansion". Lucius planted two impressive maples on the grounds, but in the fall of 1996 they were blown down. Forty trees still remain on this unusual in-town lot, including fifteen different kinds of pines. The house was red brick until the mid 1900's, when it was covered with the gold brick you see today. This accounts for the window frames being fourteen inches thick. A front porch was removed in the late 1930's and replaced with a verandah. Four rooms and a six car garage were added nine years ago by the Nelson family.
Inside the home are three fireplaces. Many of the downstairs rooms have eleven foot ceilings. The mirror and sconces in the front entry hall are original to the house, as is the mahogany paneling in one parlor and the dining room. To the right of the entry hall is the gentlemen's smoking parlor with an unusual fireplace mantel which was constructed on the site. There are also an original Lincoln campaign chair, make in the year of his election, and a Lincoln side table. Floors are oak and the adjoining dining room has a bult-in china cupboard. Some treasures in the cupboard include a vinaigrette and a glass butter dish from an antebellum home in Natchez. The dining room fireplace displays unretouched 1860 candelsticks. Off the dining room is the family room/game room/hot tub, decorated in island decor, with pictures collected from the Lachances' vacations. An unusual 1930's kitchen has Tiffany-style green glass walls and was enlarged and modernized. The original kitchen and bath facilities were outside the house in a separate structure.
At the back of the house are a media center, sunken living room with woodburner, and a solarium. The upstairs has three bedrooms, a den, and two baths which were formerly the maid's quarters. In the summer of 1996, the Lachances added to the grounds by installing two rock gardens. Each was lined, using over 850 bricks, and ten tons of river rock were filled in.
189 St Mary's Street
This unique brick vernacular house was built c. 1870. Its first occupant, Hugh Treanor, was one of Iowa's early settlers who emigrated to America in 1832 from Ireland. Locating in Dubuque in June 1837, he operated a mercantile business and was elected city alderman in 1846. He served until 1864, when he became involved in a political dispute. The Dubuque Herald said, " A corrupt and unscrupulous majority are determined to utterly disregard the wishes and expectations of the people whom they represent." Upon Mr. Treanor's death in 1882, a resolution was passed by the Early Settler's Association, praising him for fourty-five years of service to Dubuque.
The Oestreichs purchased the abondoned house in 1986. The basic structure was sound, but needed extensive renovation. Old plaster and lathe were gutted, revealing that the bluff juts into the house. This accounts for the different levels on the first floor. Insulation, drywall, new electric, plumbing, and a furnace were installed. The lower level includes the kitchen, dining room with wainscotting, and parlor. All kitchen cabinets, counters, and flooring were manufactured by Bruce, who also made the hunt board and table in the dining room from old boards torn from the house during renovation. He also reconstructed the porch, using rotting bannisters found under the porch as a pattern for the present ones. The lower porch floor came from an old school in Belmont. Beverly has done all the painting and stenciling. The second level once held the kitchen (a sink remains in the corner of the sitting room) but now accomodates three bedrooms and a cherry wardrobe Bruce made. A full bath and library occupy the top floor. Although the home appears large from the outside, the net area inside is modest because of the 15" thick exterior walls and large main wall.
The Oestreichs recently received an award of recognition from the Dubuque County Historical Society for their contribution to preservation and restoration.
462 West Third Street
Built c. 1856 by James and Jane Mullen, this vernacular townhouse is a good example of an average working man's home. James Mullen, born in County Down, Ireland came to Dubuque from Canada in 1847 and owned Taylor and Gents Furnishings at 62 Main Street. His 1864 obituary reflected that "his energy and integrity secured him a large amount of business, and he was unversally esteemed for his many good qualities." Two of his sons built the double brick house directly west in 1890, and both houses remained in the Mullen family until 1947.
There were orginally two chimneys on the eastern side of the building, and the roof's slant is original. This and the lack of windows on the western side indicate that the home was intended to be a duplex. A single window was added to the west side of the house at the turn of the century.
From the late 1970's the building lay vacant, neglected, and condemned. In 1986 Guy and Becky Hemenway rescued it from demolition. A huge hole in the roof allowed water damage to the structure and provided Guy with an unexpected tour of the basement, when he fell through the living room floor while inspecting the house. The entire structure was gutted to its original brick shell, and floors and ceilings were replaced. The Hemenways left the brick of the west wall exposed: a good example of the solid construction that, at the time of its erection, would have been hidden behind platered walls. The stairways are orginal, but because of the deterioration of the house, few other interior details remain. The main floor has a spacious, contemporary feeling where entry, living room, and kitchen flow together.
In the basement, Hemenway found a mysterious 18" arched brick tunnel which ran the length of the house and possibly led outside to a neighborhood cistern. He also found what appeared to be the remains of a still. The contraption, which had copper tubing and was surrounded by several broken corn jugs and bottles, suggested that some previous tenants may have endured Prohibition painlessly.
Catherine Goodman purchased the home in July 1995, and has been busy finishing the lower level. Basement windows were originally exposed on the north side, where a bridge led from the sidewalk to the front door. That area has been filled in with dirt for a number of years. The lower level now features a work space, second bath, and sauna.