Prolifically Mysterious & Curvaceous
For years now, as I have slowly driven around the leafy residential districts of Emporia, I have noted houses which must be by the same architect as they all have certain characteristic details, the most telling of which is a curvaceous piece of trim under the windows.
Most houses have no such trim, curvaceous or otherwise. The windows on most houses have a window sill, and nothing under but the siding of the house.
But the mystery architect thought to add an extra bit of flourish to his houses, and this extra bit is both distinctive and attractive. It marks the houses.
Of late, I have been jumping out of my car and snapping pictures of houses with curvaceous window flourishes.
On occasion, an owner sternly walks up to me. “Why are you taking pictures of my house?”
Luckily, my reply brings a smile to the owner’s face (at least so far), and I am often invited in for a tour. As there is nothing I enjoy more then getting inside the interior of a cool old house such invitations are accepted with alacrity.
To date (September 2014) I have not uncovered the mystery of who designed these houses. Several owners told me their house was by Sears, which sold kit houses all across the country. My research does not support this, and the owners have never seen the tell-tale numbers stamped onto, say, the basement ceiling joists (the numbers indicate where the pre-cut lumber was to go). In addition, there is too much variation to all the houses. This is not something one sees with kit houses, but it IS something one sees with custom-designed houses.
I now believe that all these houses were designed by the prolific Charles W. Squires, who designed my Cross House.
825 Exchange. Note the curvaceous trim under all the windows.
825 Exchange.
1214 Exchange. I have a post on this house.
901 Congress. The plants obscure the curvaceous window trim.
901 Congress. Note the dentil detail under the eaves. Charles Squires loved a good dentil.
901 Congress.
901 Congress. This is another distinctive detail seen on numerous curvaceous houses. The detail is in front of the porches.
901 Congress. Stunning house.
825 Constitution. Note, again, the porch grills. Were these originally screened behind, to vent under the porches?
825 Consitution. The house next door is 831 Consitution.
825 Constitution.
825 Constitution.
717 Constitution.
717 Constitution. This appears to be one of the largest of these homes.
717 Constitution. Note the dentil detail.
1002 Constitution.
1002 Constitution. Note the grill on the porch wall.
1002 Constitution. Nice sweep, like 825 Constitution, above.
901 Rural.
901 Rural.
901 Rural.
1001 Market.
1001 Market.
927 Market. I love the sweet window on the second floor.
927 Market. Wow.
927 Market.
828 Market.
828 Market. Note the exaggerated dentil detail under the eaves.
828 Market. Sweet.
913 Walnut.
913 Walnut.
1021 Walnut.
1021 Walnut.
622 Union. This is the smallest full two-story curvaceous house so far found.
716 State Street.
716 State Street.
1025 West Street.
1025 West Street.
807 Mechanic. Another super-sized version.
807 Mechanic. The column to the left would be original.
1118 Mechanic.
1118 Mechanic.
1118 Mechanic.
814 Market. This house is a particular mystery. It is very different than the houses above. It appears about a decade older, from the 1890s (although the porch seems circa-1915). While the curvaceous window trim would SEEM to indicate the same hand which created the houses shown above, note how the trim is more exaggerated. Is this house the first iteration of all the houses which followed? A mystery!
814 Market.
814 Market.
728 West 12th Street. On this house, the curvaceous trim is different. It was a thrill “discovering” it! But the house is certainly by the same architect as the above houses.
728 West 12th Street.
728 West 12th Street.
So, to date I have found nineteen curvaceous houses:
901 Congress
717 Constitution
825 Constitution
1002 Constitution
825 Exchange
1214 Exchange
814 Market
828 Market
927 Market
1001 Market
807 Mechanic
1118 Mechanic
901 Rural
716 State
622 Union
913 Walnut
1021 Walnut
1025 West
728 12th Street
More discoveries to follow….
13 Comments
Leave a Comment
Your email address will NEVER be made public or shared, and you may use a screen name if you wish.
there is another house with curvy trim that I admire at 1419 Rural. It’s a green house with white trim. I enjoy your posts.
On google maps it looks like a match. Curvy Windowsill trim and triple gablie windows with diamond mullions. It has same comfortable feel like the others.
Hi Gayle!
Thanks for the kind words! And the find! I will go check it out.
901 Rural is speaking to me….:) Love the low curving sweep, and the whisper of nooks and crannies to explore.
Check out the house at 805 Walnut…it’s a really neat house…i grew up there…it has an old coal chute in it…and room…the woodwork is awsome fake windows…the porch is huge…i loved that house…not sure how old it is but it’s old! And in inside is just as neat with the bay windows and such.
Ross, have you ever been in 1111 Congress? I looked at it many years ago and it has the craziest floor plan, it reminds me a bit of 901 Congress.
Hi Patsy! No, I have never been inside 1111. Would love to!
Hi Ross, sorry for this late message. Still trying to catch up on your blog. I don’t seem to do much else–work, feed the dog, read your blog.
I have a question….could 825 Exchange be Squires’ take on the Craftsman style house?? My first thought when I saw it.
Thanx for taking the time. I’m in love with what you’re doing with the Cross house.
I agree with you about 825.
And thanks for the kind words!
I love the corner detail below the porch columns the 814 Market St house I have never seen such a flourish.
Very elegant.
I loved this post on window aprons! Good eye Ross!
Wow, I lived in two of those houses during my time in Emporia. 825 Exchange is closer to an Aladdin home. Also 825 Exchange, the original owner was a Doctor (I think his name was Black), whose son that died in a car accident is said to haunt the home. I also lived in 1002 market, you are right about that one…it almost fits a sears house but the back stairs in the kitchen and the rounded window of the dining room kind of make it not fit the sears mold.
He also was the architect for the Presbyterian Church in Parsons, KS. Called The Castle.