111 2nd Street Northwest
Faribault, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Gordon Cole and Kate D. Turner House

Statement of Significance:

The Gordon E. And Kate D. Cole House is significant within the context of Faribault’s aesthetic development as demonstrated through the built environment. The context encompasses the activities, institutions and buildings which represented the community's aspirations for physical beauty and culture as expressed through craftsmanship, art and architecture. (This context spans the Minnesota Historical Society context; Agricultural Development and Railroad Construction.) Buildings significant within this context exhibit a high degree of architectural sensitivity with special attention given to scale, stylistic vocabulary and use of quality materials.

Within that context, the Gordon E, Cole House is significant as one of Faribault's most elaborate wood frame examples of the Italianate influences in residential architecture. The structure is also significant as a fine example of the evolution from a simple, utilitarian building into a highly embellished, highly styled residence.

There are many factors which contribute to the aesthetic quality of a particular place. Faribault, Minnesota, is a community which, partially through fate and partially through insightful planning, achieved a high standard of civic pride. Early practices of social Justice and tolerance did much to affect the enduring social and economic prosperity of the community. Proximity to natural building blocks did much to affect Faribault's architectural prosperity.

Locating on the Straight River the early residents had easy access to high quality limestone deposits within a mile of the Faribault settlement. Faribault's first three quarries were opened in the mid-1850s and owned separately by Alexander Faribault, Charles Wood and M.N, Pond. This indigenous natural resource, combined with the development of major religious and state institutions and their need for facilities, served to draw master craftsmen and designers to Faribault, Stonemasons William E. Jones, Edward Goodman, Thomas and Cormack McCall came to Faribault to work on the large stone contracts being generated by these institutions. Similarly, architects Henry Congdon of New York City, Cass Gilbert of Saint Paul, Willcox and Johnston of Saint Paul, and Thomas F. Ellerbe worked on large commissions and have left a legacy of finely designed, native limestone buildings in Faribault.

The development of a network of railways through Faribault, (1865,1882, and 1901) contributed to the quality and kinds of building materials available, especially in terms of finished lumber and plate glass. The technological development of mass-produced lathe and Jigsaw architectural detailing that grew out of the post-Civil War industrialization of the 1870s and 1880s also arrived in Faribault via the rails and was incorporated into the exuberant detailing of Faribault’s residential architecture.

As the community and its institutions grew, so did civic and personal pride. The fine designs which flourished from the 1860s to the early 1900s were not, however, limited to public or ecclesiastical architecture; the designs of private homes displayed the same pride and sophistication as their more imposing institutional neighbors. The same entrepreneurs who were building elaborate Italianate commercial blocks on Central Avenue (then Main Street) were also building exquisite, highly refined Italianate and Queen Anne style homes in Faribault's residential neighborhoods.

The Cole House, a well-preserved example of an evolved high style Italianate house, grew with the prominence of its owner, Gordon E. Cole. Little is known of the pre1867 structure other than that it sat on a prominent location overlooking the Straight River Valley and the growing Faribault settlement. It is believed that the original structure was built in 1856.

The original building is believed to be part of the present complex of projections, bays and wings that now make up the residence. The most dramatic and readable change came with an addition to the original house in 1867. At that time Cole constructed a large two-story mass to the front of his original home. The new addition displayed a truncated hipped roof with crowning cupola, and one-story front porch which spanned the entire front (east) elevation. The site was surrounded with an ornamental iron fence.

In 1889 Mr. Cole expanded and embellished his home with the raising to two full stories of the additions to the north and west of the original massing. With the construction of a modern two-story apartment building on the corner of First Street and Second Street NW, the north elevation now is considered the front elevation of the structure.

The Faribault Republican reported in 1867 that Cole was erecting a square mansion on the front of his former residence. The square massing with its truncated hipped roof and main entry on the east elevation can still be discerned. The 1867 structure faced on 1st Avenue and was capped with a cupola, long since removed. The structure was Italianate in styling with a one and one-half story wing to the north. The corner property was surrounded by an ornamental iron fence. In 1889 it was reported that Cole began improvements to his residence on 2nd Street. The original one and one-half story wing was elevated to the full two stories which now make up the front gabled elevation on 2nd Street NW. With the expansion in 1889 an abundance of handsome architectural detailing was added throughout to bring unity to the structure.

Gordon E. Cole was born in Massachusetts in 1833 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1854. , Cole moved to Faribault in 1857 and was elected Attorney General and served In that position from 1858 to 1865. In 1866 he was elected to the State Senate where he served one term representing the 8th District. After returning to his law practice and real estate holdings in Faribault, Cole was elected Mayor of. Faribault in 1878. The following year in 1879 Gordon Cole was elected to their executive council of the State Historical Society. Cole maintained ownership of this home until his death in London in 1890.