1999 Featured Homes Original Tour Brochure
1322 Rockdale Road
Harlow and Ivyl Adams built their Country Englishstyle home in 1937. The home and surrounding acres comprised the estate which they called Thornhill. The estate remained in their family until the fall of 1997, when Wanda Ryan and Charles Morrow purchased the property from Ron Fitch, Harlow and Ivyl’s grandson. The limestone and shake shingle home sits among the evergreen trees planted by the Adams family. All decorative wrought iron in the home, including the bedroom balconies, was forged at the Adams Company on Fourth Street in Dubuque, where Harlow was President.
The first floor of the home has undergone major renovation in the last two years. Wanda and Charles have added a master suite on the first floor, including bedroom, bath, and den with limestone fireplace. The large living room has another limestone fireplace and a wallto- wall, floor-to-ceiling cherry bookcase built by Ted Stackis and installed by Joe Mulgrew. Bay windows and French doors have been added, allowing the Ryan- Morrow family to enjoy the natural beauty of the surrounding acreage.
489 South Grandview
This 1916 American Foursquare was more notably defined and given a Greek Revival look with the addition of impressive two-story columns and a full-height porch in 1940. The house was built by the Urbach family, owners of Urbach Brothers Hub Clothing Store in Dubuque. Other prominent families who have occupied this home include the Robert C. Wahlert family and the Irvin Oeth family. Michael and Stasia Brannon, owners of Brannon Monument Company, purchased the home in 1995.
The foyer and dining room of the home feature hardwood floors and quarter-sawn oak woodwork. The living room, which is defined by a full wall of built-in bookshelves and an oversized fireplace, opens out into a four seasons room with a beamed ceiling and original mosaic tile floor. The recently gutted and replastered hallway on the second floor leads into four of the home’s five bedrooms. The third floor is used as a playroom and a quiet place for sewing. In 1998, the back entryway was remodeled with new cabinets, a marble countertop, and slate tile from Italy.
The family uses the antique hutches in the dining room to display four sets of china . Their collection of Dubuque scenes and artwork by local artists Gary Olsen, Roger Scholbrock, Alan Ford and Carl Johnson is displayed in the four seasons room. Interior decorating choices result in a home both reflective of its history and comfortable for family use.
445 South Grandview
This Queen Anne home was built around 1906 for Dr. Charles J. and Tenie N. Peterson on land originally owned by George Nightingale, Mayor of Dubuque from 1856 to 1857. Charles was one of the first graduates of a dental school to practice in Iowa and served as president of both the Dubuque and Iowa Dental Societies.
The Neo-classical portico is what remains of an original wrap-around porch which had a pass-through leading to a horse barn in back. It is believed the porch was removed in the mid-50s when the horse barn was torn down and a two car attached garage with alley access was constructed.
The front doorway, with much of its original beveled glass remaining, opens into a spacious foyer with a beautiful stairway whose pillars continue the Neo-classical look of the porch. Two sets of French doors lead into a formal parlor on the left and a family room on the right. The parlor fireplace and built-in corner hutches in the dining room are original to the house. The second floor has five large bedrooms and two baths. Much of the renovation, including kitchen and baths, was done in the mid-90s.
Since the purchase of their home in the fall of 1997, present owners Bob and Holly Nizzi have refinished the foyer woodwork, the stairway, and several bedroom floors. In decorating, Victorian frills were rejected for a clean contemporary look. The Nizzis are in the process of remodeling the two rooms on the third floor.
390 South Grandview
This modest two bedroom cottage was built in 1921 in the Arts and Craft style. Arts and Craft homes were often referred to as "Houses of Light" and this one is no exception. Wonderful rippled glass windows (many with four panes over two over one) fill the house with light even on the grayest of days. Leaded glass on a built-in hutch and bookcases catch and reflect the sun's rays, while the many doors in the home allow the light to spill from room to room.
The home was built by Maria Kemp, a widow, for herself and her unmarried daughter, Christina. Maria died in 1926 and Christina lived in the house for ten more years. The next owners, Thomas and Dorothy Ryan, raised two children here. In 1954 Leo and Margaret Ann Chambers purchased the home. Margaret lived here until last year. She was extremely proud of her Grandview home and considered herself very fortunate to be able to live in such a wonderful place.
Jan Oswald, the present owner, has added a deck to the home from which to enjoy her beautiful park-like back yard, the sunrise and the city lights. She has spent the past ten months stripping, painting, and restoring the cottage's charming interior to the warmth and openness it deserves. In her restoration, she chose to paint one of the bedrooms its original goldenrod color, but rejected the original magenta and forest green kitchen colors for those which would give her more of the serenity she is searching for in her new home.
235 North Grandview
This beautiful American Foursquare with a Classical Revival porch sits on a large corner lot in what was known as Quigley's Subdivision. Built in the early 1900s for John Whelan, it was sold in 1910 to William Whelan, who, in turn, gifted the house to his wife, Etta, for $1 and love and affection. Etta’s niece, Sarah, inherited the house and lived in it until 1965, keeping much to herself. In 1965, after a bad house fire, Sarah died and the estate was sold to Dr. Clarence and Emily Nesler. Neighbors fondly remember the many cocktail parties they held on the grand wrap-around porch. In 1986 the home was bought by David and Susan Horsfall, who sold it to its present owners, Bill and Tammy Pfab, in 1996.
Wonderful oak woodwork and elegant beveled glassornamented buffet and hutch are complemented by the Pfabs' hand-picked selection of American, Belgian, and English antiques dating from the turn of the century. A talented carpenter, Bill has custom crafted kitchen cabinets, fashioning them after an antique Belgian cupboard. He has added book cases, display units and a bathroom in the third floor playroom.
Bill and Tammy have also done substantial landscaping and have designed and built a multi-level deck to better enjoy the variety of hardwoods and flowering trees and bushes on their property. Floral
422 Loras
The Old House Enthusiasts invite you to stop by this 1895 Queen Anne brownstone and visit the Rocco Buda Arts Resource Center, a free gallery/museum where local artists can display their work and where school groups and scouting troops have enjoyed fun exhibits such as the Ashanti Collection of ethnic masks and puppets.
The Gallery was opened two years ago by Ruth and Russ Nash, Dubuque citizens who have dedicated their lives to supporting and involving others in the arts. The couple lives among their art treasures.
The 434 side of the building was occupied from 1951 to 1997 by Rocco Buda, a tailor from Calabria, Italy. He and his wife raised four children in the duplex. When Rocco died in 1997, his side was rezoned office-residential and the Center was established.
The Old House Enthusiasts wish to pay tribute to Ruth and Russ Nash for their years of organizing Dubuquefest, their support for our organization, and their great contribution to the arts and to the community of Dubuque.