County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Jefferson St., 6th house E of Kingshighway, N side, St. Charles
Built: 1886
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Architectural Style: Gothic Revival influence
Original Occupant: Oliver P. and Elizabeth Reinhart
Map
"303. 1038 Jefferson Street; Gothic Revival influence; circa 1886; Contributing
This 1½-story frame structure has a side-gabled roof and an intersecting front-gabled wing. The roof is clad with octagonal asphalt shingles and trimmed with narrow scalloped bargeboard. Gabled dormers on both slopes of the front-gabled wing have round-arched openings filled with 6/6 windows topped by fanlights and the gable ends and eaves are trimmed with narrow scalloped bargeboard. The dormers may have been added in 1991. The walls of the house appear to be clad in vinyl siding and the front gable is finished with fish scale shingles that may also be vinyl. The 1½-story front portion of the house is T-shaped, but the rear wing and additions give the house an irregular plan. The façade has a 2/2 wood window on the south side of the west wing, two 2/2 windows on the front-gabled wing and an entrance on the south side of the east wing. The windows have segmental-arched hood molds and arched, louvered wood shutters. The upper 2 panels of the 4-panel wood door are glazed and the door is topped by a single-light transom. The wide gallery is set within the L formed by the front and east gabled wings, but the porch extends well beyond the east wall of the house. It has a wooden deck, plain balustrade, box columns with molded capitals and a shed roof trimmed with bargeboard. In the front gable is a round-arched opening filled with a 6/6 window with a fanlight. The south end of the east elevation also has a door that opens onto the portico and to the north are two 2/2 wood windows with wooden louvered shutters. The windows have plain trim with wide molded caps." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1886 circa
Style/Design: Gothic Revival influence/Cross Gabled
The County’s tax parcels database gives the date of construction as 1886, and this may be correct. The address is listed in the first available city directory, which was for the years 1891-92. The owners of the house were Oliver P. and Elizabeth Reinhart, and he was a machinist at the American Car and Foundry Co. (ACF). By 1916 Mrs. Reinhart was a widow, but living with her were Walter A. and Gracia Trussell, and Mr. Trussell was a station manager at the Public Utility plant and an electrician. The homeowner from 1921 through 1932 was Miss Daisy Martin, Julia Martin owned the house in 1934, and Eleanor Martin owned it from 1938 to 1939. In 1941 the city directories list the house as vacant, and from 1942 through 1955 the occupants changed
several times, but none of them owned the house: Chester E. and Arlene Roth from 1942-45, Thorley A. and Ruby Alderson in 1950, and Clarence M. and Violet N. Hiatt in 1952. In 1942 Roth was a salesman for the St. Charles Dairy Co. and in 1945 he was a sheet metal worker at ACF. Alderson was the president of the Terminal Cab Co. and Hiatt was an aircraft worker at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis County. The 1955 directory lists the house as vacant, and from 1957 through 1961, when research ended, the home was owned by Charles J. and Mildred Sperber. Mr. Sperber was a service man for The Denning Co., which sold and serviced radios, televisions, and electrical appliances.
"A plaque in the front yard has the following information: “This wood frame house, circa 1886, is a late Victorian Cottage enhanced by the builder to emphasize the German/Tyrolean tradition of settlers in the area from Europe in the mid 1800s. This can be noted in the curved finials above the front windows and the fanciful wooded scroll affixed to the fascia boards at the roofline. The large, covered front porch was built for two maiden sisters, who enjoyed its vantage point during the first half of the twentieth century.” The porch is shown on the 1929 Sanborn map, which is the first Sanborn map to cover the western end of Jefferson Street.
"This house is similar to the one next door at 1026 Jefferson Street. It is a one-and-one-half story, frame structure that has a side-gabled roof and an intersecting front-gabled wing. The roof is finished with octagonal asphalt shingles and is trimmed with narrow scalloped bargeboard. Gabled dormers, which are on both slopes of the front-gabled wing, have round-arched openings filled with 6/6 windows topped by fanlights, and the gable ends and eaves are trimmed with narrow scalloped bargeboard. Based on the City’s address files, the dormers may have been added in 1991. The walls of the house appear to be clad in vinyl siding and the front gable is finished with fish scale shingles that may be vinyl. The one-and-one-half story front portion of the house is T-shaped, but the rear wing and additions give the house an irregular plan. Sanborn Insurance maps show a one-story, L-shaped wing extending across the rear elevation and projecting beyond the west elevation, but a second story has been added to the portion that is directly behind the house. The addition has a shed roof trimmed with bargeboard, and an interior brick chimney pierces its roof. The east elevation of this addition is clad in fish scale shingles. There is also a gabled addition on the east end of the rear façade, and it appears that the gabled garage is attached to the northwest corner of the house (a privacy fence obstructs the view). The roofs of both of these additions are also trimmed with bargeboard.
"The main façade has four bays: a 2/2 wood window on the south side of the west wing, two 2/2 windows on the front-gabled wing, and an entrance on the south side of the east wing. The windows are crowned by segmental-arched hood molds and are protected by arched, louvered wood shutters. The upper two panels of the four-panel wood door are glazed, and the door is topped by a single-light transom. The door opens onto a wide gallery set within the L formed by the front and east gabled wings, but the porch extends well beyond the east wall of the house. It has a wooden stair on its south side, a wooden deck under which are paneled latticework panels, plain wood balustrade, box columns with molded capitals, and a shed roof trimmed with bargeboard. In the front gable is a round-arched opening filled with a 6/6 window with a fanlight, and this window may have been added in 1991. The south end of the east elevation also has a door that opens onto the portico, and to the north are two 2/2 wood windows with wooden louvered shutters, and the windows have plain trim with wide molded caps. The only opening on the upper half story is a window in the second floor addition. The west elevation has three window openings. The 2/2 window on the south end has a hood mold while the center 2/2 window has plain trim with a wide molded cap, and both of these windows have louvered wood shutters. The northernmost window is in the one-story rear wing and it is small and not clearly visible from the
street. A front-gabled, frame garage has been added to the northwest corner of the house. The roof is trimmed with scalloped bargeboard. The upper wall of the south elevation is latticework and there is a triangular latticework ventilator in each gable end. A privacy fence obscures the openings in all but the south elevation. The garage is not shown on the 1947 Sanborn Insurance Map.
"This property is elevated above the public sidewalk that spans the front lot line. A concrete sidewalk with four steps leads from the street to the front gallery, and numerous trees shade the property. The front gabled wing is obscured by a large evergreen tree and large shrubbery, making it difficult to photograph the house. The rear yard is enclosed by a painted wood privacy fence that has a rolling gate at the driveway." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase II, PDF pages 222-227