Noyes House - Illinois Street Historic District - Fairbanks, Alaska
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 64° 50.988 W 147° 43.175
6W E 465877 N 7191909
One of the Fairbanks Exploration Company employee houses in the Illinois Street Historic District in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Waymark Code: WMAXJ8
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 03/07/2011
Views: 5
From historic district nomination form:
"Address: 407 Illinois Street Architectural Style: no style
Construction dates: c. 1911, 1928, 1961 Builder: Fred Noyes, F.E. Company
This house, which Fred Noyes built around 1911, was one of the first three story houses constructed in Fairbanks and was one of the most substantial houses built during the town's pioneer era. A gable roofed, wood frame house with wrought wood siding exterior, it featured a large wrap-around colonnaded porch in the Classic Revival tradition. A smaller side porch appears to be a later addition. The dining room had paneled mahogany walls and a coffered ceiling. The F.E. Company purchased the house in 1925 for visiting employees of the parent company. The interior was remodeled slightly following the purchase. It had a living room, dining room, kitchen, and library on the main floor, and bedrooms and bathrooms on the upper floors. A separate exterior staircase rose to a cache near the roof off the side porch. In 1928, the house was remodeled into two apartments for F.E. Company employees. On the main floor, two small bedrooms and a bathroom were added at the northeast corner of the house. The library became a third bedroom. Two of the four bedrooms on the second floor were transformed into a living room and kitchen with continued access to the bedrooms on the third floor. The company sold the house to local businessmen for a funeral chapel in 1959 and the interior was adapted to this purpose. A fire in 1961 badly damaged all three floors and the house was radically remodeled including removal of the entire third floor. The interior details were lost in the fire. A new gable roof was added but much of the original exterior of the two lower stories was salvaged, including original door and window locations as well as the original wraparound porch and side porch. The Noyes House continues to be an impressive building in Fairbanks and contributes to understanding the district."