125 Madison Ave
Decatur, GA, USA

National Register of Historic Places - William and Minnie Pearce House

Statement of Significant:

The William and Minnie Pearce House is significant in the area of architecture at the local level of significance as an excellent and intact example of a Craftsman-style bungalow in the city of Decatur. As defined in the statewide historic context Georgia's Living Places: Historic Houses in Their Landscaped Settings, the Craftsman style was the most popular early 20th-century architectural style in Georgia. The Craftsman style in America was a break from historical styles and was influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement. There was an emphasis on materials and craftsmanship that is shown in the use of natural materials, such as wood and stone, and a design that highlighted the structural elements of a building. Houses have a horizontal feel with low-pitched gable or hipped roofs and wide overhanging eaves, often with decorative knee braces. Craftsman-style porches often have square posts on masonry piers. In Georgia, the Craftsman- style is closely associated with the bungalow house type. As defined in Georgia's Living Places, bungalows are long, low, and generally rectangular in shape with an irregular floorplan and were very popular throughout Georgia, in rural areas and cities, between 1900 and 1930.

The William and Minnie Pearce House is an excellent example of a Craftsman-style bungalow. The overall form of the house is one-story, rectangular-shaped house with a low-pitched gable roof. The house also retains its historic character- defining exterior and interior features. The exterior of the house has common character-defining features of the Craftsman style, such as a low-pitched, front-gable roof, wide overhanging eaves; exposed rafter tails; and knee braces. The house is weatherboard with an uncoursed granite and brick pier foundation. The front-gable porch also has wide overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, and knee braces. A wide entablature is supported by battered wood posts on granite piers. The house retains its historic floorplan with an irregular arrangement of rooms and no central hall. The interior of the house retains its original historic materials and Craftsman-style decorative elements, which include plaster walls and ceilings; wood floors, moldings, doors, and door and window surrounds; fireplaces and mantels; decorative exposed beams in the living room and dining room; and high wainscoting in the dining room.

The William and Minnie Pearce House is representative of Craftsman bungalows built in the Oakhurst neighborhood in Decatur. In 1893, the Atlanta Street Railway Company completed a trolley line from the Atlanta central business district east through the neighborhoods of Inman Park and Candler Park and along DeKalb Avenue and the Georgia Railroad rail line to the area that would become Oakhurst. The line split with one route trending north to Decatur and one line trending south to East Lake. The area south of DeKalb Avenue and the Georgia Railroad was soon subdivided, developed into residential neighborhoods, and incorporated into two towns, Kirkwood (1904) and Oakhurst (1910, east of Kirkwood and closer to Decatur). Oakhurst was smaller than other incorporated areas east of Atlanta with a population of approximately 100 people. In 1915, Oakhurst was annexed into the city of Decatur. Very little is known about Oakhurst as a separate municipality. Oakhurst was annexed into the city of Decatur in 1915 and the town's records burned during a fire at the former city hall shortly after annexation. Most of the area was settled after annexation in 1915 and the housing stock generally dates from 1915 through the 1930s with Craftsman bungalows being the most predominant house style and type. Between 1910 and 1920, William J. (1868-1963) and Minnie L. (1874-1962) Pearce and their 15-year-old daughter, Mamie, moved from Marietta in Cobb County to the house on Madison Avenue. William J. Pearce was a sales manager for the McNeel Marble Company, a monument manufacturer in Marietta. William and Minnie Pearce lived in the house until their deaths in 1963 and 1962, respectively.