The John P. Furber House is a historic house in
Cottage Grove, Minnesota, United States, built in 1871, the same year Furber officially
platted the 20-year-old settlement. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the theme of community planning and development.
It was nominated for its association with the phenomenon in early
Washington County towns of platting well after communities had already been established.
Description
The John P. Furber House is a two-story
wood frame
Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is generally called ''mass wal ...
building. It is
gabled on the front façade and on the two side
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
s, with round windows at the peaks. Elements of
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
are found in the low-pitched roof, wide
eaves supported by scrolled
bracket
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
s, and tall narrow windows.
The house originally had a full-width porch across the front façade. A
lean-to
A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...
was added to the rear sometime before 1940, replacing a small back porch.
History
John P. Furber and his four brothers originally hailed from
New Hampshire, but between 1844 and 1860 they moved one-by-one to the Cottage Grove area, one of the first Euro-American farming regions in the future state of Minnesota. One of Washington County's first inland settlements emerged there as an informal village by 1851. The Furber brothers were notable early settlers, and John (or J.P.) was the village shopkeeper. In 1871 he conducted a survey of the townsite, formally platting the already-established community. This phenomenon of post-settlement platting also occurred in several other Washington County towns, such as
Stillwater,
Afton, and
Point Douglas.
Some sources say Furber's house dates to the 1850s, making it the oldest standing building in the historic core of Cottage Grove.
Official National Register documentation gives a construction date of 1871, the same year as Furber's survey.
The house remained in the Furber family for decades, only changing hands in 1940 with its acquisition by Jacob and Arlene Vandenberg. In 1947 Jacob Vandenberg built on the property a dairy barn with an arched
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
roof. The estate stayed in the Vandenberg family for 70 years, only passing to all-new owners in 2010. Now billed as the Historic John P. Furber Farm, the third family to own the property has renovated the barn to serve as a wedding venue; However, they are expected to declare bankruptcy as seen in their other venue (Circle B).
See also
*
References
External links
Historic John P. Furber Farm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furber, John P., House
1871 establishments in Minnesota
Houses completed in 1871
Houses in Washington County, Minnesota
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Italianate architecture in Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Minnesota