904 2nd St S
Stillwater, MN 55082, USA

Herman Drews House

This two-and-a-half-story, Queen Anne style residence was constructed in 1894. The frame house has a limestone foundation, clapboard siding, one-over-one double-hung windows, and a hipped roof with lower, clipped gables. Its steeply pitched roof of irregular shape with dominant front facing gable, patterned shingles, asymmetrical front elevation, wraparound front porch, and two-and-a-half-story projecting gable bays on the north and south elevations are all character defining features of the Queen Anne style that was popular in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The scroll-sawn detailing in the pediment over the front steps is another distinctive Queen Anne feature. Based on historical maps, this house was built between 1891 and 1898 and replaced a small one-story structure with rear ell that was constructed on this lot circa 1872 for painter Watson Hall. In 1894, Herman Drews applied for a building permit to have local carpenter William Bieging construct him a house on this lot for $1,700. Unfortunately, Drews does not appear in the Stillwater area city directories during this time period. According to repair permits from 1904, there was a large fire in the house that cost $600 to repair. In 1953, Edward Simonet purchased the property. Simonet was employed as a clerk with the County Register of Deeds. Mr. Simonet and his family resided in this house for over 52 years before finally selling it in 2005.