County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Jefferson St., 3rd house W of N 5th St., S side, St. Charles
Built: 1922
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: Minimal Traditional
Original Occupant: Unknown
Map
"247. 529 Jefferson Street; Minimal Traditional; circa 1924, remodeled circa 1940; Contributing
Situated on an elevated lot, this 1½-story brick Minimal Traditional house has a side-gabled roof with a
taller, steeply-pitched, cross-gabled, 1½-story bay on the west side of the façade. The buff-colored brick
walls are in a Flemish stretcher bond, with every seventh course having alternating headers and
stretchers, and the walls are accented with orange bricks. The main entrance is located in the front gabled wing, facing east onto a porch that spans the side-gabled wing. The oval light, paneled door is a
replacement. On the side-gabled wing, 2 pairs of 8-light wood French doors open onto the porch, and the
openings throughout the house are surrounded by header courses of orange and buff bricks and the
windows have orange brick sills. The porch is inset under the main roof, which is supported near the east
corner by a large, square brick pier. The porch has a brick half-wall railing with brick pedestal at the top
of the concrete stairway. A band of three 6/1 wood windows is in the westernmost bay and in the upper
half story is a 1/1 window. Three partial belt courses of orange stringers are between the windows. An
exterior end brick chimney is on the east elevation and a shed dormer with three 1/1 windows is on the
front slope of the roof and extends to the east slope of the front gable. The house was built circa 1924 as
a frame house with full-width porch, but it received a stylistic upgrade with the addition of the front gabled bay and the brick veneer circa 1940." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1922-1925
Style/Design: Minimal Traditional
This building is puzzling. Fire insurance maps show that there was no building on this lot in 1917, and this is confirmed by the city
directories which do not list this address until 1921-22 when it is identified as vacant, which is often the case for the building was
just being completed. In the 1925-26 directory, Edward J. and Ruthann Lawler were listed as the homeowners. He was the assistant general foreman for the American Car and Foundry Company. However, the 1929 fire insurance map shows a 1.5 story house (which may have been a frame building) with a full width, one story porch. By 1947, the Sanborn map shows the same dimension dwelling but the west bay of the porch area was now shown as a one-story enclosed wing with the porch on the east half of the façade, which approximates the dimensions of the current house, but the west bay on the façade is 1.5 stories, not one story. This could represent an error on the map because the brick in this wing shows no evidence of having any alteration. A notation was also added to the house on the 1947 map, saying “Ven’d” which stands for veneered. This helps explain the stylistic detailing which is too modern for the 1922-1925 construction date. The house has a steeply pitched roof, with a cross gable and a small shed dormer, features often found on Tudor Revival houses, but the brick detailing is Modernistic, something that would not have been found on an early 1920s house. Based upon available information, it appears there was an error on the 1947 map (and that the front bay was 1.5 stories) and that the house was built between 1922 and 1925, but it received a stylistic upgrade with brick veneer which was added between 1929 and 1947. Dr. Lawrence E. Dudeck, a chiropractor, became the homeowner
between 1939 and 1941, remaining at least through 1961 when research ended. It seems likely that when Dudeck bought the house, he modernized it, giving it the Minimal Traditional appearance it now has, a modern style that utilizes intersecting gables and complex rooflines like Tudor Revival houses, but with simpler detailing. Even then, this is not a common variation of Minimal Traditional but one with distinctly Modernistic details in the contrasting brick surrounding the window and door openings as well as the three stripes of brick on the façade that create horizontal banding found on many Streamline Modern designs. Since the current appearance of the house is what appears to have been added while Dr. Lawrence E. Dudeck owned the house, that name is identified as the historic name.
"This 1.5 story, buff brick house has a steeply pitched side gable roof with a cross gabled 1.5 story bay on the west side of the
façade. The entry façade is deeply recessed so that the side gable incorporates the porch roof, which is supported near the east
corner by a large, square brick pier, creating wide eaves for the porch. The porch has brick half wall railings with the brick newel
post and opening next to the cross gabled bay, with concrete steps leading into the porch. On the porch, there are two openings,
both with paired, wood, 8-light French doors that are surrounded by an orange header course and a buff header course of brick.
The entry door actually faces east onto the porch, opening into the cross gabled bay. It is also framed with the orange and brick
header courses, but it has a replacement oval light, half light paneled door. There is a triple window unit on the first floor of the
cross gabled bay and a single window on the second floor, both surrounded by orange header course and a buff header course of
brick. The first floor windows in this bay are 6 over 1 wood sashed windows, but the second floor window is a 1 over 1 window.
The broad eave of the porch extends on the east elevation, with a roof skirt between the first and second floor, creating a
triangular enclosure of the gable end, which is faced with newer vinyl siding. There is a brick end wall chimney that pierces
through these eaves. First floor window openings on this side and the west side are 9 over 1 sashed windows, but the paired
windows on the second floor of each side elevation are 1 over 1 windows, apparently replacements. Next to the gabled bay on
the façade is a broad shed roofed dormer that has been re-clad with vinyl siding and 3 replacement 1 over 1 windows. On the
rear, it appears that the house originally had a hipped roof with a central gabled dormer, but there is now a broad gabled dormer
offset to the west, tiered behind the original dormer. Both are clad with vinyl siding and the windows are replacement 1 over 1
sashed windows. There is a straight flight, stained wood, staircase with a shed roof adjacent to a concrete ramp with stained
wood railings, both running perpendicular to the rear elevation. The rear door at the end of the ramp appears to be a replacement
half light, two panel door and the wall to the east appears to have originally been a large corner window, now infilled with vinyl siding, but the west bay of the rear elevation retains the original paired, 9 over 1 wood sashed windows. The front gabled bay and
the brick veneer were probably added with the new owner in 1939-41, within the period of significance, but the rear alterations,
including the vinyl siding, replacement 1 over 1 windows, the larger rear dormer, and the stairs/ramp, were recent alterations, but
because they only minimally impact the elevations visible from the street, the house is still a contributing building in the historic
district.
"The detached garage shown at the rear of the property on both the 1929 and 1947 maps has been demolished and the rear yard
is paved for parking." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase I, PDF pages 246-250