County of home: St. Charles County
Location: 3rd & Jefferson, St. Charles
Marker sponsor: R-G-H Real Estate & Department of the Interior
His Find-A-Grave Listing
The Person:
"One of the Germans to come to St. Charles during this migration was Johann Heinrich Stumberg, a contractor and builder. ...
Johann Heinrich Stumberg had two sons and five daughters. One of the sons, John H., was a surgeon in the Civil War and fought on the Union side. After the War, he returned to St. Charles, married Helene Linneman, a prominent St. Charles family name, and in 1869 bought City Block 70 and constructed his home. It 1s not known if Johann Heinrich assisted his son in the construction of his new home in 1870 at 100 South Third Street." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
Historic Marker at the home:
Built in 1869 by Dr. John H. Stumberg upon his return from service as a surgeon with the Union troops. The contractor was Dr. Stumberg's father who had built the Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Charles and All Saints Church in St. Peters.
Dr. Stumberg was at one time Superintendent of Public Schools and served for twenty five years on the Lindenwood Board of Trustees.
Dr. Stumberg married Helen Linnemann and they had four daughters and four sons. Upon the death of his wife, the house was left in trust for the benefit of their unmarried daughters. The last of the daughters to live in the house died in 1972.
The Place:
The Dr. John H. Stumberg Home is a significant example of late nineteenth century architecture as Influenced by traditional German building modes in St. Charles, Missouri.
The primary façade of the Stumberg Home faces west; the plan is a T with a north wing approximately 45' square adjoined on the south by a wing approximately 45' square adjoined on the south by a wing approximately 30' square. The foundation is of natural stone. The house lacks a basement but does have a brick floored cellar under the south wing. There are first and second floors 1n the main block, with no attic.
The exterior walls are laid in red brick, three layers thick, in common bond. The roof is a cross gable with asbestos shingles. Under each of the house's four gables runs a decorated cornice and beneath this, a decorative brick corbel table painted white. The corbel table continues on the abutting walls, but in a simpler pattern. Five brick chimneys occur, one on either side of the roof lines on the east and west facades respectively and one 1n the center of the cross gable. The two chimneys on the west façade are capped by decorative brickwork; the rest are plain. These chimneys served woodburning stoves.
There are four rectangular dormers with shed roofs, one projecting from a roof slope of each cross gable, which provide natural lighting to the interior. There are two gabled dormers projecting from each side of the roofline on the south façade. They contain two-over-two light double-hung round-arched windows, with decorative wood carving applied beneath the raking cornices of the dormer gables.
The west façade faces; South Third Street and presents a centrally located main entrance flanked on each side by a window. The double leaf doors have decorative panels in the lower half and slender windows 1n the top half; half-rounded at the top and three-sided at the bottom. The doors are topped by a two-light transom, whose lights are shaped to fit the segmentally-arched enframemenit.
The south façade features a wide segmentally-arched umbrage porch with a recessed doorway and wooden stair which were used by the servants. To the right of the entrance is a single leaf four panel door topped by a segmentally-arched transom; to the left, a window. The second story features paired round-arched four-over-four light double-hung windows spanned by a plain lugslll. The east façade presents a shallow three-bay porch dilineated by four square posts that support an
arcaded frieze, while two engaged posts are attached to the wall to the rear. The porch is topped by a railing with turned balusters, serving again as a balcony for the triple-arched door/window ensemble. The balustrade 1s repeated below across the front of the porch and a round window is found again in the gable peak. There are two entrances that open onto the porch, approximately four feet apart, with single leaf door and tall segmentally-arched glass transoms. The north façade
has a centrally located three-sided bay window. It contains four tall one-over-one light windows with inset wooden panels underneath. The bay features a dentil cornice with widely spaced paired brackets and is surmounted by a railing with turned balusters. Another triple-arched window/door ensemble opens onto the balcony. The bay is flanked on each side by two windows." ~ NRHP Nomination Form [link below]