County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Washington St. & N 7th St., SW corner, St. Charles
Built: 1892
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Architectural Style: Folk Victorian
Original Occupant: Unknown
Map
"460. 701 Washington Street; Folk Victorian; circa 1892; Contributing
Located on a corner lot, this 1½-story frame house has a coursed rock faced stone foundation and a high hip roof with intersecting cross gables. A brick straddle ridge chimney is on the hip roof while an
interior end chimney pierces the right side slope of the front gable. A gabled dormer with a 1/1 window is on the right slope of the hip roof. In the left bay of the 2-bay façade is a half-glazed wood door topped by a stained glass transom and to the right is a hipped box bay with band of three 1/1 wood windows.
The door opens onto a 1-bay portico with stone foundation, concrete stairway on the left side, turned posts supporting a hip roof and a plain balustrade. In the upper half story is a pair of narrow 1/1 wood windows.
a. Garage; circa 1923; Contributing
The 1-car garage has a concrete foundation, board-and-batten walls and shed roof. Paired vertical board doors are on the east façade and two 2/2 wood windows are on the north elevation." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1892 circa
Style/Design: Folk Victorian
The County’s tax parcels database gives the date of construction as 1905; however, this house appears to be the same one shown on the 1893 Sanborn Insurance Map. The address was not listed in the 1891-92 city directory, so it was likely built about 1892 before the map was prepared. In 1906, the next available directory, and 1908-09 the house was occupied by Henry Moehlenkamp, a painter at the American Car and Foundry Co. (ACF), and his wife Julia. The next couple of occupants also worked at ACF: Gustave Meers in 1910 and John D. Zumbehl in 1916-17. In 1918-19 Ben H. and Ridggie Jolly resided there, and he was the county superintendent of schools. Prior to 1921-22, when Henry and Mathilda Bekebrede purchased the house, none of the occupants were listed as the owners. By 1931 Mathilda Bekebrede had apparently died, but Henry continued to own and occupy the house through at least 1942. During the 20-year period that he lived there, only two of the city directories list an occupation for him: in 1931-32 he was listed as a farmer and in 1942 as a clerk for Raymond Bekebrede, a confectioner. Walter and Clara Bull were listed as the occupants but not owners of the house in 1945 and 1950, and he was a laborer at ACF. From 1955 through 1959 Alvin and Nellie Bekebrede were the owners, and he was a salesman at H.C. Osiek & Co., which sold automobile equipment. By 1961 Roddy and Dorothy Rotramel had purchased the house, and he was a designer at McDonnell Aircraft. Although the Bekebredes were not the original occupants, they owned the house for over 20 years so their name is being given as the historic name.
"This one-and-one-half story, frame house rests on a coursed, rock-faced stone foundation and is crowned by a high hip roof with
intersecting cross gables. A brick straddle ridge chimney is on the hip roof while an interior end chimney pierces the right side slope of the front gable. A gabled dormer with a 1/1 window is on the right slope of the hip roof, while a hipped dormer with a pair of windows is on the rear slope. In the left bay of the two-bay main façade is a half-glazed wood door topped by a stained glass transom, and to the right is a hipped box bay with band of three 1/1 wood windows. The door opens onto a one-bay portico with stone foundation, concrete stairway on the left side, and turned posts supporting a hip roof. A plain wood balustrade is on the porch but a metal railing is on the stairway. In the upper half story is a pair of narrow 1/1 wood windows, and to each side of the pair is a louvered vinyl shutter. On the east elevation there are no openings in the front hipped section, but in the east wall of the projecting gable is a pair of 1/1 windows on the first floor and a single 1/1 window in the upper half story. The west elevation has two window openings on the first floor and another in the upper half story. The rear elevation was originally L-shaped, with a porch set within part of the L, but the hipped porch has been enclosed and a shed-roofed, screen porch has been added to the south wall of the enclosed porch.
"Located at the southwest corner of Washington and Seventh Streets, this house sits on an elevated lot with very small front and side yards. Public sidewalks extend along the front and east property lines, and concrete stairways with five steps lead from Washington Street to the front portico and from Seventh Street to the rear porch.
The steep slope of the front yard is planted with ivy, and a decorative concrete block retaining wall has been built along the rear half of the east property line. A landscape bed backed by a scalloped privacy fence is along the top of the retaining wall, while a wood picket fence is along the rear. Mature cedar trees are in the front yard while other mature trees are in the side and rear yards. An alley extends along the rear of the property, but the one-car garage at the southeast corner of the lot opens onto Seventh Street. This garage, which was built between 1917 and 1929, has a concrete foundation, board-and-batten walls, and shed roof. Paired vertical board doors are on the east façade, a 2/2 wood window and a board-and-batten man door are on the west elevation, two 2/2 wood windows are on
the north, and there are no openings on the south elevation. The garage is contributing." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase II, PDF pages 694-698