County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Jefferson St., 6th house W of N 10th St., N side, St. Charles
Built: 1959
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Architectural Style: Two-Story Block Duplex
Original Occupant: Florence O. Diehr
Map
"298. 1024 Jefferson Street; Two-Story Block Duplex; 1959; Contributing
This 2-story, brick duplex has a low hip roof, a concrete foundation with 2-light windows and brick walls in a running bond. Exterior end chimneys are on the south end of the west elevation and on the rear
elevation. The first floor of the 3-bay façade has a band of three 1/1 vinyl windows in the west bay and 2 wood doors, each with 3 circular panels. The doors open onto a 2-bay porch with concrete deck, wrought
iron posts supporting a crimped metal bell-cast hip roof, and an iron railing. The second floor has a band of three 1/1 windows in the west bay and a single 1/1 window in the east. (The west opening on each
floor originally held a tripartite window composed of a large sheet glass window flanked by 1/1 windows.) Windows have cast stone lug sills.
a. Garage; Noncontributing
The 1-story, side-gabled, 2-car garage is clad with wide siding that appears to be aluminum. A 1-car carport with round metal posts and shed roof has been added to the west elevation. Two paneled metal
overhead doors are on the south façade. The garage has lost integrity and is noncontributing." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1960
Style/Design: Two-Story Block Duplex
The County’s tax parcels database gives the date of construction of this duplex as 1960, and this appears to be correct. Prior to 1959 this address was not listed in the city directories, but the 1959 directory notes that this address was vacant, likely indicating
that construction of the duplex was underway. The 1961 directory lists the owner of the building as Florence O. Diehr, who was
an office secretary at the First National Bank of St. Charles. She lived in 1024 Jefferson and the residents of 1024a were Thomas
A. and Joyce Schneider. He was a physician with an office at 207 North Fifth Street. The city directories indicate that prior to construction of this duplex Ms. Diehr lived next door at 1026 Jefferson Street, which was situated on a parcel composed of Lot Nos. 6 and 7 of O’Rear’s Subdivision. She had the duplex built on Lot No. 6.
"Built in 1960, this duplex is a two-story, brick structure with a low hip roof. The concrete foundation is pierced by two-light basement windows and the brick walls are laid in a running bond pattern. There are two exterior end chimneys: one on the south end of the west elevation and one on the rear elevation. The first floor of the main façade has three bays: a band of three 1/1 vinyl windows in the west bay and two wood doors, each with three circular panels. The doors open onto a two-bay porch with concrete deck, wrought iron posts supporting a crimped metal, bellcast hip roof, and an iron railing. The second floor of the façade has a band of three 1/1 windows in the west bay and a single 1/1 window in the east. A 1996 photograph of the building shows that the western opening on each floor of the main façade originally held a tripartite window composed of a large sheet
glass window flanked by 1/1 windows. Windows throughout the structure have cast stone lug sills. The first floor of the east elevation has five openings (from front to rear): a 1/1 window, a half-glazed wood door (three horizontal lights over three horizontal panels), paired three-light casement windows, and two 1/1 windows. Between the first and second floor are two 1/1 windows at the south end, and on the second floor are paired three-light casement windows and two 1/1 windows. On each floor of the west elevation are paired 1/1 windows and two 1/1 windows, and there appears to be a two-story, brick addition at the northwest corner, and it has paired three-light casement windows on the first floor.
"This property is a flat lot with a public sidewalk along the front and an alley along the rear. A concrete sidewalk leads from the
street to the portico, and there is a landscape bed along the front of the house to the west of the portico and a tall pine tree at the
southwest corner. An asphalt driveway extends from the street, down the east property line to the one-story, side-gabled, frame, two-car garage at the rear of the lot. A one-car carport with round metal posts supporting a shed roof has been added to the west elevation of the garage. The wide siding appears to be aluminum, and there are two paneled metal overhead doors on the south elevation. A half-glazed man door (three horizontal lights over three horizontal panels) and what appears to be a two-light sliding window are on the west elevation, but there are no openings on the rear or east elevation. The garage is noncontributing." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase II, PDF pages 194-197