Ott, Albert, House - Olathe, Kansas - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

From the National Register application:
www.kshs.org/resource/national_register/nominationsNRDB/Johnson_OttAlbertHouseNR.pdf

"The Albert Ott house was constructed in 1894 and is located at 401 S. Harrison Street, Olathe, Kansas. The Ott house is an unusual example of a front-gabled, Queen Anne style house and is an early example of the Queen Anne style in Olathe.

This home closely resembles homes farther east in the previous ten year period. It is similar to many homes popularized and distributed in catalogs and mail order catalogs of the day. There is a strong commonality between the feeling of the Ott home and those home plans published by George Pallister in the 1880s and 1890s. Irregular, painted wood shakes cover the second floor exterior walls. The lower section of the second floor flairs out slightly from the first floor. This is a feature commonly used on shingle style houses. The windows on the second floor have leaded art glass transoms and multi-paned windows. The Ott house was constructed at the end of the period when home construction was purely Victorian in decorative inspiration. There are no traces of either classical or Arts and Crafts period ornamentation on the exterior of the home. Colonettes ans spindle work on the porch have a clear Eastlake influence, very popular in the early 1890's. Architectural detail on the Ott house also suggests an influence from the Stick and Shingle Architectural styles. The combination of the Queen Anne with Shingle and Stick detailing is very common in the Northeast and eastern region of the Midwest. The Ott house is an unusual interpretation of the Queen Anne style with the Stick and Shingle influences not usually executed this far west. Examples remaining in such good condition are even more infrequent.

Exterior Description

The Ott house is situated at the west corner at the convergence of Harrison and Elm Streets. The primary facade of the house faces directly west. The house is front gabled with a side entry on the south half of the facade. While the house is square, and front gabled in massing, the profile of the house is complex. There is no regular repetition of the fenestration of the house. Bays, gables, and ells interrupt the roofline. This is usual for the period. The massing of the house, however, is not as complicated as later homes built in the Queen Anne style. The Ott house combines aspects of the Stick, Shingle and Queen Anne styles into its architectural design.

The primary facade has two bays on the first floor, five bays on the second floor, which consist of paired, double windows, and a three-bay,arched window above the front entry. The arched window has original multicolored square glass lights in the windows. The third floor has a single, twelve light, vertically rectangular window in the gable of the attic. The triple arched/window is in an extension that pierces the front facade. It does not interrupt the facade, but instead brings the front facade forward as an extension of the roofline.

The front porch is wood construction. The porch has turned collonettes and is joined by open wood arches embellished with wooden fret and beadwork in a stylized sunburst pattern. The fretwork has an unmistakable Eastlake influence. The cladding material on the first floor is clapboard. They have replaced the balusters with simple, non compromising members. The first floor divided, window has a stained glass transom and a large clear glass picture window beneath. The form is very simple. The front door has a large singular glass pane in the center and Eastlake inspired woodcarving beneath. A Victorian reproduction screen door that is not original to the house covers the front door. The screen door is sympathetic to overall appearance to the home and is era appropriate. The appearance of the front facade is much like it was from a turn-of-the-century historic photograph presented by the current owner. The only alteration has been the introduction of a wood picket fence that historically never existed.

Staggered wood clapboards cover the primary facade of the second floor. This functions as a visual divider of the first floor from the second. Two additional cosmetic devices include a large frieze board among the first floor clapboard sheathing and the beginning of the wood shingles on the second floor. The frieze board is painted a dark contrasting color for addition horizontal emphasis. With eaves extending from underneath, the roofline above the second floor is flared slightly. This is very similar to the construction methods and design frequently used in the Shingle style. The changes in materials give the walls a visual break and add pattern and rhythm to an otherwise flat wall surface. Two sets of windows on the second floor serve as the visual anchors on the primary facade of the structure. The double window on the left side of the front facade is a double one over one double set of windows covered by storm windows. Stained glass transoms top the double windows. Te arched triple window that covers the stairs and entrance to the porch suggested a slight Romanesque revival influence, which was widely reflected in the shingle interpretations of residential architecture. The central section of the triple arched window is one over one double hung wood. It is flanked by elaborate 24 over 24 multi-paned, multi colored stained glass wood double hung windows. It is above the front door of the house in an extending room. A wood shingle clad balcony bordered by decorative cast iron lattice work covers the porch.

The south facade of the house also shows no regularity of pattern, very common in Queen Anne and related picturesque styles of the late 19th century. The first and second story transition between the clapboard first floor and the wood shingle clad second story is interrupted by a triple set of 12 paned, multicolored glass windows in the center of the facade. The remainder of windows are one over one double hung wood windows with aluminum storm windows over the exterior. The division of materials visually divides the south facade of the house. The first floor is clad in horizontal wood clapboards. Staggered wood shakes cover the second floor. A gabled doubled bay window extends from the South facade of the structure, interrupting the roof plane.

The north facade is consistent with the rest of the structure. It continues with the same cladding materials used on the restof the home. The projecting two story ell, is fully square on not a bay as on a south facade. The windows on the north facade are all one over one double hung windows with aluminum storm windows. The coal bin is found at the foundation line, a midpoint between the end corners of the building.

the east or rear facade of the home has a one story kitchen addition that is not original to the home. It has an extremely shallow hipped roof that also clad in wood shakes. This is not original to the 1894 section, but was added to the home within ten years of its construction date. It is believed that a sleeping porch was built above the first floor addition for many years, but photographic documentation of the appearance is not available. The addition is also evidenced in the basement foundation structure. Four, stone support walls support the walls, forming two rooms in the basement spacebetween the front and rear section of the house.

The exterior walls of the rear addition are clad in horizontal wood clapboard. This is consistent with the rest of the rear of the home. A wrap-around porch once extended around the rear ell of the home, but was removed in the mid 20th century.

All of the windows on the home have non-obtrusive metal storm windows. The third floor has a board and batten sheathing that is original, as seen in a historic photograph. The house is in outstanding condition and has been sympathetically rehabilitated. Historic photographs provided the template for reproduction of missing elements on the facade of the Ott house. The sleeping porch has not been reconstructed, nor has a wraparound porch on the kitchen ell. A picket fence and a rear gazebo are the only new, not historic, elements introduced to the exterior of the property."

Public/Private: Private Tours Available?: no Year Built: 1894 Web Address: [Web Link]

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