Looking Back… 35 Years of Historic Preservation Awards

By Michael Bridgeman and Jennifer Gurske

Since 1989, the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation has celebrated award recipients at our Historic Preservation Awards. The event has evolved over the years, but we always strive to recognize projects that show a high level of devotion to historic preservation through property owners, architects, designers, contractors or other participants. We also recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in activities that support the preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Madison Trust and the 35th year of the Awards, this month we are looking back on just a few of the 279 recipients that have given us a reason to celebrate.

 

Side-by-side award winners on East Main Street [1]

 

1989
Catherine and Louis Nelson House
504 E. Main St., Madison

Mattermore-Malaney House
512 E. Main St., Madison

At the Madison Trust’s first awards event in 1989, all six honorees were homeowners who restored, renovated, and repaired historic houses. Two were side-by-side neighbors in what would become the local First Settlement Historic District in 2002. For his brick house at 504 E. Main St. (1881), owner Don Griffen replaced an enclosed front porch with a smaller portico, replicated missing window hoods on the main façade, and repaired masonry. Carol Crossan replaced 60 percent of the siding on her wood-framed cottage at 512 E. Main St. (1875), removed five inches of concrete paving to create a yard and gardens, and added a new front porch. Period porches in central Madison were models for both porch updates.

 

The first Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House [2]

1990
Herbert A. & Katherine Jacobs House
441 Toepfer Ave., Madison

When James Dennis bought the first house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Herbert and Katherine Jacobs (1937) in 1982 it was badly deteriorated. [a] Eight years later, Dennis and interior designer Nancy Kendrick were recognized by the Madison Trust for undertaking a daunting restoration that included stripping creosote from the exterior pine and redwood boards, rebuilding the roof and carport, refurbishing the interior, and much more. The house at 441 Toepfer Ave. is recognized as Wright’s first completed Usonian design and was on the National Register of Historic Places when Dennis purchased it. Beautifully restored, the first Jacobs House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003 and was among eight sites by Wright inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019.

 

An International style house in Monona [3]

 

1994
Edward and Irene Thomas House
809 Owen Road, Madison

Doug and Anne Kearney purchased the house at 809 Owen Road in Monona in 1992 and quickly undertook a restoration. Two years later they were recognized by the Madison Trust for their work on the distinctive International style house. The one-story brick house built in 1936 for Edward and Irene Thomas, who lived there for more than 50 years. It was one of several low-cost International style houses in Monona designed by Hamilton Beatty and Allen Strang that are characterized by flat roofs, ribbon windows (some wrapping corners), and little or no ornament. The Kearneys had original doors and windows rebuilt and repaired, floors refinished, paneling restored in the living room and kitchen, and plumbing and electrical service updated.

1996/2005/2012
William and Jane Leitch House
752 E. Gorham St., Madison

Compatible New Construction (garage) Award (2005)
Residential Restoration Award (2012)

The William and Jane Leitch House (1854), a rare local example of the Gothic Revival style, is a three-time winner of Madison Trust Preservation Awards. In 1994, Steve Lotharius and Rosalind Anderson bought the mansion and converted it to The Livingston, a bed and breakfast inn. They won a preservation award in 1994, after repairing plaster on ceilings and walls, installing custom millwork to replace missing molding, upgrading plumbing and heating systems, and doing much more.

By 2005 the house was once again a single-family residence when owners Richard and Mary Jane Adamick commissioned Isthmus Architecture of Madison to devise a two-stall carriage house, which received an award for compatible design. In keeping with the period of the house, the “car barn” has crossbuck doors and a Gothic style window in a steeply pitched dormer faced with board and batten siding.

The Leitch House was re-opened as a B&B in 2011 by Peggy and Dave Furlan. They won the third award for the property by restoring the front porch with custom milled columns and decorative details, replacing steps from the Gorham Street sidewalk with newly quarried stone, and removing 90 trees and shrubs from the overgrown property. The house continues to welcome guests as The Livingston Inn.

 

The Johnson House at 69 Cambridge Road [6]

 

2006
Maurice and Elanor Johnson Residence
69 Cambridge Road, Madison

Residential Restoration Award

In 2004 a massive fire, the largest in Dane County up to that time, did extensive damage to the 1917 home designed by Frank Riley for Maurice and Elanor Johnson. Maurice was an officer of the family business, the Gisholt Machine Company, who also helped develop Maple Bluff as a fashionable suburb. The roof collapsed and lead to extensive damage on the first and second floors. Two years after the conflagration, owner Peggy Hedberg and a team of experts received an award for their comprehensive restoration, guided by original blueprints that were found frozen in a cardboard tube in the charred attic. As for the roof, the same tiles from the same era became available when an Illinois racetrack was razed; those tiles were salvaged for the Johnson House.

 

The Halle and Sophia Steensland House [7]

 

2016
Halle and Sophia Steensland House
315 N. Carroll St. (moved to 15 W. Gorham)

Preservation Award

Moving a historic building not an option preservationists prefer, but sometimes it’s the right solution. In 2016 the successful relocation of the Steensland House was selected for a preservation award. When Bethel Lutheran Church first proposed relocating the Queen Anne mansion in 2011, the plan was to move it several blocks from its original site at 315 N. Carroll St. Built in 1896 by Halle and Sophia Steensland the masonry house had long stood marooned as the Bethel Parish Shoppe, a consignment store. In 2013 a new plan emerged to move the house around the corner to face Gorham Street, where it was restored and returned to residential use. Three apartments are now home to participants in the Steensland House Service-Focused Community.

 

First Lutheran Church [8]

 

1993
First Lutheran Church
711 N. Pleasant View Road, Middleton

The First Lutheran Church in Middleton is the oldest Lutheran Church in the Madison area. Founded in 1852 by German immigrants, the church was built in 1866 with additions in 1884. Regular services were discontinued in 1947, but the church continues to be a popular location for weddings, baptisms and funerals despite the fact that there is no heat, air conditioning, water, or restrooms.

The restorative work that began in 1990 applied fresh exterior paint, replaced missing shutters, rebuilt front steps and handicap ramps, and installed a new iron fence. On the interior the floors were sanded and refinished, a balcony was rebuilt, and kerosene lamp chandeliers and light fixtures were restored to their original condition (they are electrified). The pine pews, which have a center divider once used to separate men and women during church services, were repaired and hand grained where necessary.

This simply-styled Gothic Revival building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1988) and the State Register of Historic Places (1989).

2005
St. Raphael’s Cathedral
222 W. Main St., Madison

Church Restoration Award

St. Raphael’s Cathedral began as a small wood structure built on land donated by Governor James Duane Doty to a visiting missionary in 1842. The stone cathedral was built from 1854-1863, with the tin-clad, wood frame steeple added in 1881.

By 2004, the steeple had deteriorated to the point that it needed to be completely replaced. A team from Facility Engineering, Inc. (architecture) and Greaf Anhalt Schloemer and Associates, Inc. (structural engineering) analyzed the original and designed its replacement. Components of the steel-framed, fire-retardant clad spire were fabricated separately. Once assembled on site, the pieces were lifted into place and secured using hydraulic cranes. Findorff completed the construction for the Cathedral Parish.

In March 2005, a fire devastated the Cathedral. The roof collapsed and the stone shell was badly damaged, but the spire and steeple were saved. In 2008, the Cathedral was demolished and is now a park featuring a stone walkway incorporating 14 Stations of the Cross. The steeple was later dismantled with the parts being used to create pieces of art.

2007
Trainor’s Building
551 W. Main St., Madison

Commercial Restoration Award

Built in 1888, the building was acquired in 1896 by grocer Daniel T. Trainor and was established as Trainor's Store, a butcher shop and grocery store. Over the years, the building has housed the Universal Grocery Company, Kroger Grocery and Baking, Millins grocery, and Uncle Jim's Pizza. The building also provided temporary storage for the Madison Children's Museum and office space for Midwest Environmental Advocates, The Onion and Microsoft.

Delta Properties worked to restore the property's interior and exterior beginning in 2005. The painted exterior was cleaned to reveal buff-colored, brick and bricked-over windows were uncovered. Additional improvements included steel supports, an updated electrical system and floors that were replaced with recycled materials and then refinished. At the time the award was given, descendants Lucy and Ann Trainor, who still lived in the neighborhood, were happy to see the restoration of their grandfather's grocery store.

1992
Biederstaedt-Breitenbach Grocery
853 Williamson St., Madison

This location was the home of a grocery store for 110 years! In 1874, Charles Biederstaedt built this structure and operated his grocery while living on the second story with his family. In 1891, the business was taken over by George Breitenbach whose family kept it as a grocery store and lived upstairs for three generations until 1950.

In 1984 when restoration began, the brick was covered with a sand mix coating, the front had a plywood windlock, 50 percent of the stone was missing and 20 percent was deteriorated. The original front was restored and missing or damaged stone replaced. Matching stone, found at a quarry in Westport, was tooled and chiseled to match earlier stone. Turn of the century photographs guided Dorla Mayer, of Survival Graphics, in the restoration of this Italianate building. Mayer’s current business, Screen Door Studio, is still in this building today.

The Biederstaedt-Breitenbach Grocery is a Madison Landmark (1977) and was added to the National (1982) and State (1989) Register of Historic Places.

 

Canterbury Booksellers Coffeehouse [13]

 

1992
Canterbury Booksellers Coffeehouse
315 W. Gorham St., Madison

In 1924, 315 W. Gorham St. was built for the Jacobson Auto Company car dealership and later became Black's furniture store. In the 1960s, It housed the U.S. Army Recruitment Center, Sam Day's Progressive Foundation, and was the political headquarters for Morris Udall, Patrick Lucey and Students for Eugene McCarthy. It also housed a music venue called "The Factory," [b] which featured groups such as Jimmy Hendrix, The Fugs, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

In 1991, Harvey and Trudy Barash transformed the large space into the Canterbury Booksellers and received an award for commercial preservation.

Hidden under a 1970s stucco façade was a red brick building that once boasted much detail and large arched windows. The stucco was so thoroughly bonded to the brick that it could not be removed by mechanical or chemical means. Consequently, to restore the facade, original brick had to be removed along with the stucco and concrete block. Inside, partitions and suspended ceilings were removed, revealing high ceilings to give open feeling.

More recently, it was A Room of One’s Own bookstore before the building was demolished in 2022.

 

Arlan Kay with the next generation of preservationists. [14]

 

2010
Arlan Kay, FAIA

Lifetime achievement award

Arlan's advocacy began in the late 1960s when he petitioned a developer to save Mapleside. The building was lost, but it helped spur Madison's first preservation ordinance and the creation of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation. Arlan recovered from that early setback to found the Design Coalition, a nonprofit Community Design Center dedicated to advocacy and neighborhood preservation and enhancement.

Arlan's vision has led to the development of some of the most admired and successful downtown Madison revitalization projects, including the Fess Hotel (now the Great Dane Downtown) in 1974. He, along with four others, gained a last-minute reprieve for the partially demolished and weather-beaten building that was condemned for parking. The group not only saved the building but transformed it into a downtown landmark.

Here are just a few of Arlan's prominent restorations and rehabilitations in Dane County:

  • University of Wisconsin's Olin House

  • International Harvester warehouse

  • Quivey's Grove

  • Mansion Hill Inn

  • Stoughton City Hall and Clock Tower

  • Chi Psi Lodge

Arlan's preservation work goes beyond his success at Architecture Network, which he handed over to Kontext in 2015. He has always believed that preservation is economically feasible and "restores communities not just buildings." His passion for preservation led him to participate in the development of Wisconsin's Historic Building Code in 1982, to chair the Village of Oregon Historic Preservation Commission, and to serve on the Wisconsin State Capitol and Executive Residence Board. He has also lectured in the UW-Madison's Engineering Department and participated in programs such as ''Architects in the Schools" and "Architective" that taught students how to understand and preserve their community's historic buildings.

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Notes

[a] Wright designed a second house for the Jacobs family in 1948.

[b] Otis Redding was scheduled to give two shows at The Factory on Dec. 10, 1967, when his plane crashed in Lake Monona, killing the singer, his pilot, an assistant, and four members of his band.

Image Credits

[1] Photo by Michael Bridgeman.

[2] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #16085.

[3] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #5592.

[4] Photo by Michael Bridgeman.

[5] Photo by Michael Bridgeman.

[6] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #5405.

[7] www.steenslandhouse.org.

[8] Ueda Photography

[9] Photo by Madison Trust (2023)

[10] Photo by Madison Trust (2011)

[11] Photo by Madison Trust

[12] Photo by Mike Tuten

[13] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #83310.

[14] Photo courtesy of the Madison Trust (2010)

Madison Trust