County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: N 5th St. & Jefferson St, NW corner, St. Charles
Built: 1941-1942
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: Tudor Revival
Original Occupant: Zerr, Earl J. and Barbara E.
Map
"242. 502 Jefferson Street; Tudor Revival; 1941-42; Contributing
Built in the Tudor Revival style, this 1½-story variegated brick house has a steeply pitched side-gabled roof intersected by a 1½-story, cross-gabled wing that spans the west half of the façade. On the east end of this gabled wing the roofline merges with a 1-story, slightly projecting gabled vestibule that has a curved roof that extends down to the stone wing wall on the west side of the vestibule. The vestibule has a rock-faced limestone surround around the round-arched opening, which holds a round-arched, 8-light wood storm door over the wood plank door. The concrete stoop extends from the vestibule across the east half of the façade and there are brick pedestals with concrete caps on top of the stoop that serve as newel posts for the iron railing. The brick stairway has brick knee walls. To the west is a pair of 6/6 wood windows topped by a soldier course and the sill is brick. To the east of the doorway is a band of three 4/4 wood windows and in the upper half story is a single 6/6 window. An interior brick chimney with concrete cap and a shed dormer with paired windows and weatherboard walls are on the front slope of the side-gabled roof." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1941-1942
Style/Design: Tudor Revival
This brick Tudor Revival house appears to be the first house on this lot since previously it served as the side yard for 508 Jefferson, according to the Sanborn maps. This address is first listed in the 1942 city directory (and not in the 1941 directory), seeming to indicate it was built in 1941-1942. Even though the county assessor’s database lists the date of construction as 1950, that is clearly an estimate since the house is shown on the 1947 Sanborn map. This was initially the home of Earl J. and Barbara E. Zerr. Earl Zerr was a carpenter. They continued to live in the house at least through 1952, since they are listed in that year’s city directory, but in 1955 the next directory listed this as the residence of Louis G. Raiche and then in 1957 it was listed as vacant. In 1959 James H. Jeffries was listed in the directory as the new homeowner and he was still there in 1961 when research ended. He was a realtor who built the small store building at the back of the lot to serve as his office, apparently at the same time that he moved in since it too is first listed in 1959. It faces Fifth and addressed 115 N. Fifth (and addressed separately in this survey).
"This 1.5 story, multicolored brick, Tudor Revival house has steeply pitched side gabled roof intersected by a 1.5 story cross
gabled bay that spans the west half of the façade. On the east end of this gabled bay, the roofline merges with a one story,
slightly projecting, gabled vestibule that has a curved roof that extends down to the stone wing wall on the west side of the
vestibule. The vestibule has a rock-faced limestone surround around the round arched doorway with a wooden round arched
storm door over the wood plank door. Although the concrete front entry stoop extends from the vestibule across the east half of
the façade, there are brick piers with concrete caps on top of the stoop that serve as newel posts for the iron railing. These piers
flank the entry door and there are also brick side walls flanking the brick steps in front of these piers. There is another brick pier
at the east corner of the stoop. On the first floor of the gabled bay there is a window opening with a soldier course lintel that has
paired six over six wood sashed windows. Above, there is a single six over six sashed window with a soldier course lintel on the
second floor and centered above, in the attic, is a small boarded-over window with a brick sill and lintel. Nestled at the juncture of
the gabled bay and the main roof is a brick chimney and in the east side of the main roof on the façade is a large shed roofed,
clapboard dormer with paired windows. On the first floor of the east portion of the façade there is a triple window unit, with four
over four sashed windows.
On the east elevation, which faces Fifth Street, there are two small diamond paned, stained glass casement windows spaced in a
way that makes it likely that there is a fake fireplace on the interior (a common treatment for Tudor Revival houses in the area).
Behind what is probably the living room, is a side doorway with a shed roof supported by large brackets. The door has a wood
storm door and a half light, wood paneled door. There is a concrete stoop with a pipe railing that leads to the front and a sidewalk
that extends to Fifth Street. Directly behind, there is a shallow, projecting, one story, gabled, brick bay with paired windows.
On the west elevation there are three windows on the first floor (the middle one is smaller) and the outer two are directly above
the three-light awning basement windows. On the second floor there is another window with a small attic vent window above.
On the rear there is a large shed roofed dormer and a shed roofed enclosed porch.
Storm windows have been added to the house and aluminum awnings have been added to most windows. Otherwise the house
appears unaltered.
"On the west side and rear, the lot is paved in asphalt as a parking area, but it appears that the area to the west was originally the
driveway. At the rear of the property is a one-story, front-gabled building that houses Lilu's Shoe Boutique (see survey number
SC-AS-006-127)." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase I, PDF pages 214-217