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NEENAH, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Isabel and Orrin Johnson House in Neenah (Winnebago County) on the State Register of Historic Places. State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presented the certificate to Florence Bruno.

The Isabel and Orrin Johnson House retains exceptional integrity from its completion in 1918. It was constructed on the foundations of an earlier house that Isabel Johnson had built for her mother, Elizabeth Bacon. The Johnson House retains distinctive features of the Arts and Crafts style including exterior walls finished with stucco, generous windows and entrances that connect the interior to the outdoors, a roof with multiple gables, flared fascia boards and exposed rafter tails under overhanging eaves supported by knee braces. Additional character-defining features are the Georgian Revival-style main entrance and interior details that include decorative fireplaces and classical wood paneling. The attached three-car garage is original and the earliest known in Neenah.

Isabel Johnson’s second husband was millionaire industrialist Charles Smith of Neenah. Upon his death in 1916, she married matinée idol Orrin Johnson, who had performed on stage opposite leading actors of his time and appeared in several groundbreaking silent films. Isabel commissioned the construction of the house and is thought to have played a large role in its design. Orrin died in 1943, and Isabel lived in the house until her death in 1950. 

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

Additional information for Isabel and Orrin Johnson House is available at

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI62170

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.

About the Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.