Property Record
428 W JAMES ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | John A. Erhart House |
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| Reference Number: | 28465 |
| Location (Address): | 428 W JAMES ST |
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| County: | Columbia |
| City: | Columbus |
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| Year Built: | 1875 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19962012 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
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| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | Richard D. Vanaken |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | ERHART EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE EARLY 1850S BECAUSE OF POLITICAL UNREST AND TO AVOID MILITARY SERVICE. HE WORKED IN A HARNESS SHOP IN FOX LAKE AND WITHIN THREE YEARS HAD HIS OWN SHOP IN COLUMBUS. Very fine cream brick Italianate house with later Craftsman style front porch and cut stone foundation. Erhart was a manufacturer and dealer of harness goods. The carpenter contactor for the house was Richard D. Vanaken. 2012- "The John A. Erhart House, built in 1875, is a two-story square-plan ltalianate residence. Resting on a coursed ashlar foundation, the walls are of cream brick and the hip roof is covered in asphalt shingles. A single-story porch spans the symmetrical front (southwest) facade; its hip roof is supported by square stuccoed pillars and it has been enclosed with screens. The main entrance is flanked by paired arched windows. Elsewhere, fenestration is regular, and window openings have flat stone sills and segmental arch headers with brick hood moulding and contain two-over-two, wood, double-hung sash. A single-story bay window projects from the southeast (side) elevation; its hip roof features decorative cutout trim beneath the eaves." -"STH 16/60, Industrial Dr to Manning St (USH 151)", WIS-DOT 1401-02-01 & 1401-02-04, prepared by Mead & Hunt, Inc., (2012). "This simple house is a restrained example of the Italianate Style. Its overall form is a cube with a hipped roof. Elements of note include segmentally-arched windows with brick lintels, wide eaves, and one-story bay containing round-arched windows and ornamented with a jig-sawn bargeboard. The stately porch is a later addition; its refined lines, square columns and band of dentils attest to the interest in the Classical Revival style in the early 20th century. John A. Erhart was one of the many young Germans who emigrated to America in the early 1850s because of political unrest and to avoid military service. He began work in a harness shop in Fox Lake and within three years had his own shop in Columbus." Columbus Historic Architecture Tours, undated. |
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| Bibliographic References: | COLUMBUS HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE TOURS, COLUMBUS HISTORIC LANDMARKS AND PRESERVATION COMMISSION, 1994. Butterfield, C. W. History of Columbia County, WI. Chicago: Western Historical Co., 1880, p. 964. Columbus Democrat: Febraury 6, 1875, p. 1. Stare, Frederick A. The Columbus Story. Installment No. 85 (p. 129). “Architecture and History Survey: STH 16/60” WHS project number 14-0933/CO. June 2012. Prepared by Mead & Hunt Inc. Columbus Historic Architecture Tours, undated. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |