Razy and John Wright House, W5670 County Road F, Town of Medary, La Crosse County
Architect: Otto Merman (attributed)
Date of Construction: 1924
Located on a winding road in the bluffs overlooking La Crosse, the Razy and John Wright House was built around 1924. Razy Mikshowsky was the owner of a dressmaking salon and several commercial buildings in downtown La Crosse. She married John Wright shortly before his retirement from the La Crosse Fire Department, and the pair set about building a country house on a farm that John owned outside of town. The design for the Wright house is attributed to Otto Merman, a prominent La Crosse architect who designed houses in the affluent neighborhoods along Cass Street, King Street, and Losey Boulevard. The exterior walls of the Wright house are rough-faced stone with steep gables. The house has a large enclosed porch with heavy arches and buttresses, and flared catslide roofs at either end. Inside, the Wright house retains much of its original 1920s craftsmanship, including leaded glass windows, hardwood floors, plaster archways, and coved ceilings.
With its finely crafted stonework, complex roof form, and decorative details, the Wright house displays a sophisticated combination of architectural styles that were popular at the time of its construction. The overall shape of the Wright house recalls traditional English cottages that inspired early 20th-century British architects and that were publicized in the United States in magazines like House Beautiful and The Architectural Record. The use of locally quarried stone reveals the influence of the Rustic style, allowing the Wright house to harmonize with its natural surroundings; and the leaded glass windows and arched front door illustrate the popular Tudor Revival style. The curving roofline, stonework patterns, and playfully small exterior lighting on the Wright house all hint at the influence of the Storybook style, a whimsical and brief-lived architectural trend that emerged in the 1920s.
With its imaginative combination of architectural styles, along with its high-quality local building materials and high level of craftsmanship, the Razy and John Wright House remains a carefully designed and finely crafted product of its time.
It is a private home and is not open to the public. |