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August Senkbeil House
This is a small front gable house with several characteristics of a very modest Greek Revival style home: six-over-six-pane windows, a classical pediment over the front door, and fluted columns with capitals simulated in wood trim on each side of the front door. This is the style of house commonly built in Stillwater in the 1850s before the Civil War. Judging from early photographs of downtown Stillwater--which was then residential--there were many small houses of this type._x000D_ _x000D_ However, as the downtown commercial area developed, these small houses were demolished, or moved to make way for larger commercial buildings. It seems most likely the house at 1812 North Broadway was one of those houses moved out of downtown, probably in the 1870s or 1880s. The building does not appear in an 1870 map of Dutchtown, but it does appear in its present location in a map drawn in 1892. The lot, like many in Dutchtown, was owned by the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company until it was sold to August Senkbeil in 1902, but the Senkbeil family had resided in the house for at least a decade earlier and remained in the house through the 1970s._x000D_ _x000D_ The residence was purchased several years ago by Donald Teske (who lives just south) when it was in a state of considerable disrepair. Teske has restored the house to what seems to be its original appearance. The south wing has been added, but Teske took considerable pains to match the trim and appearance of the original house. In the rear of the house is an old barn, and the only remaining well that served this community called Dutchtown. According to Teske, there is an anecdote that claims this building once served as a schoolhouse, but given the style of the building, and the fact that most of the schoolhouses in the surrounding area are documented, that story seems unlikely._x000D_ _x000D_ Although there are several of the larger Greek Revival houses remaining from this early period of Stillwaters history, there are only a very few of the more modest representations of this Greek Revival style.
August Senkbeil House
This is a small front gable house with several characteristics of a very modest Greek Revival style home: six-over-six-pane windows, a classical pediment over the front door, and fluted columns with capitals simulated in wood trim on each side of the front door. This is the style of house commonly built in Stillwater in the 1850s before the Civil War. Judging from early photographs of downtown Stillwater--which was then residential--there were many small houses of this type._x000D_ _x000D_ However, as the downtown commercial area developed, these small houses were demolished, or moved to make way for larger commercial buildings. It seems most likely the house at 1812 North Broadway was one of those houses moved out of downtown, probably in the 1870s or 1880s. The building does not appear in an 1870 map of Dutchtown, but it does appear in its present location in a map drawn in 1892. The lot, like many in Dutchtown, was owned by the Schulenburg & Boeckeler Lumber Company until it was sold to August Senkbeil in 1902, but the Senkbeil family had resided in the house for at least a decade earlier and remained in the house through the 1970s._x000D_ _x000D_ The residence was purchased several years ago by Donald Teske (who lives just south) when it was in a state of considerable disrepair. Teske has restored the house to what seems to be its original appearance. The south wing has been added, but Teske took considerable pains to match the trim and appearance of the original house. In the rear of the house is an old barn, and the only remaining well that served this community called Dutchtown. According to Teske, there is an anecdote that claims this building once served as a schoolhouse, but given the style of the building, and the fact that most of the schoolhouses in the surrounding area are documented, that story seems unlikely._x000D_ _x000D_ Although there are several of the larger Greek Revival houses remaining from this early period of Stillwaters history, there are only a very few of the more modest representations of this Greek Revival style.
Posted Date
Sep 27, 2021
Source Name
Heirloom Homes and Landmark
