Richter, Charles Samuel, House
N 43° 47.598 W 089° 19.873
16T E 312446 N 4851556
Built by Charles S. Richter, president of the Montello Granite Company for his wife and two daughters, the house was the height of luxury in Montello. The setting, on a hill overlooking both Montello Lake and Buffalo Lake.
Waymark Code: WM1X4V
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 07/24/2007
Views: 43
Architectural drawings for the granite house were dated 1908 by Parkinson and Cockendorff of LaCrosse, and Richter spared no expense in three years of construction. The house was completed in 1912. (In 1915 Richter deeded another part of the hill to the county for its new courthouse and jail.)
Walls, 16 inches thick, are filled with cinder block. The first two floors are poured cement, plumbing encased between the joists, and overlaid with hardwood floors throughout. All 54 windows are leaded glass, with stained glass above the deep bookcases on either side of the living room fireplace and at the halfway point up the curved open stairway in the foyer.
The granite spalls that give the house its distinctive exterior were saved at the quarry for three years, and it took six months in the polisher to perfect the four round granite pillars that grace the front entrance. When it was built, the house was billed as the only granite house in the world.
(Source: Places and Faces in Marquette County, Wis, Vol. III, by Fran Sprain)
Also known as - Le Maison Granit
Street address:
55, 103, 105 Underwood Ave.
Montello, WI USA
53949
County / Borough / Parish: Marquette
Year listed: 1996
Historic (Areas of) Significance: At the time this house was built it was billed as only granite house in the world.
Periods of significance: 1900-1949
Historic function: House of the President of Montello Granite Company.
Current function: Private residence.
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 1: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.