Property Record
144 BREESE TERRACE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Charles Crownhart House |
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| Reference Number: | 75144 |
| Location (Address): | 144 BREESE TERRACE |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
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| Survey Date: | 1997 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | American Foursquare |
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| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Architecture: The Crownhart House is a two-story American Foursquare style house with a hip roof and a shed-roofed dormer projecting from the main elevation. The house is covered with vinyl siding, but an older survey photo shows that the house was originally clad with narrow clapboards. The windows are primarily individual modern single-light sashes. It is also possible that some windows were enclosed and covered with the vinyl siding. The main entrance is enclosed with a modern steel paneled door. An original window, as seen in the older survey photo, sat to the left of the entrance. It was a large “picture” style window flanked with narrow single-light sashes. In that same space today, there are two modern single-light sashes. The front porch is extant and features square posts sitting on rectangular brick bases. The house is connected to the house at 148 Breese Terrace at the basement level. History: According to the historic preservation office in the City of Madison planning department, the Crownhart house was built in 1911 and city directories show it had two owners before Charles Crownhart acquired it in 1916. He lived there until his death in 1930. Jessie Crownhart, Charles’ widow lived there into the mid-1930s. In 1965, the house was acquired by the Triangle Fraternity organization. The fraternity also acquired the house at 148 Breese Terrace and built the basement connection during the 1980s. According to the Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, Charles Crownhart was an attorney and judge who graduated with a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1889. He was a private attorney, then district attorney of Douglas County and served as a regent for the State Normal Schools (UWW campuses) from 1905 to 1912. In 1911, Crownhart moved to Madison and became the chair of the newly created state Industrial Commission (originally named the Industrial Accident Board). He served on this commission until 1915, then went into private practice in Madison until 1922, when he was appointed a State Supreme Court Justice. He served as a justice until his death in 1930. He was an active part of Wisconsin’s “Progressive Era” and served as Robert M. La Follette’s senatorial campaign manager in 1910 and 1916. (Carol Cartwright, 3-2024) |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |