The Stauduhar House is an historic building located in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982. The house is in the Highland Park Historic District.

George P. Stauduhar

George Stauduhar was a prolific architect based in Rock Island. He graduated with a degree in architecture from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1888. Stauduhar moved to Rock Island in 1890 to establish his practice, which ended with his death in 1928. He married Anna Elizabeth Farrell in 1891 and they raised eight children. The architectural practice was a family business. His sons assisted in the business arrangements and supervised the construction on the work-site. His oldest son, Charles, owned his own construction company and was his father's business partner. The Stauduhar daughters maintained the business's financial records and inventories. He died of heart failure in

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

on September 23, 1928, while supervising the construction of a church. His son and business partner Charles died the next day in an automobile accident while on his way to make his father's funeral arrangements. While this brought an end to the family's architectural business, they continued to live in the house until 1975. George Stauduhar's architectural and personal papers were donated to the University of Illinois. While Stauduhar designed a variety of buildings, he is most noted for his work for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He designed over 200 churches in the

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 ...

style in the upper Mississippi River Valley. Eight of his churches were built in

Rock Island County Rock Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois, bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 147,546. Its county seat is Rock Island; its largest city is neighboring ...

. Stauduhar used classical architectural styles in his residential buildings that incorporated his love for the romantic. He liked to mix textures and various architectural details in the homes he designed. His own home exemplifies this tendency in his work. Stauduhar also designed commercial buildings and

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

interiors. A sample of George Stauduhar's designs in Rock Island includes: *St. Mary's Rectory (1890) * John Looney residence (1895) *Kelly Residence (1895) * Villa de Chantal (1900–1919) *Sacred Heart Church (1901) *Shields House (1904) * Potter House (1907) *West End Settlement (1907) * Peoples National Bank remodel (1910) *Math Residence (1911) *Audubon School (1912) *A.D. Huesing Bottling Plant and Garage (1912) *Fire Station #5 (1914) *Eagles Building (1914) *Fire Station #6 (1916) *

Long View Park Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

Chalet (1917) *Ward residence (1918)

Architecture

Stauduhar designed his own home in 1895 utilizing an eclectic style with Free Classic influences. It features a tile roof, a Classical

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

that sits on top of two-story columns, rounded bays, twisted copper downspouts and different window shapes used throughout the structure. Originally the second and third stories were covered in cedar shingles. They were replaced by

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

after a 1918 fire. On the interior the dining room features a

barrel-vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed ceiling and elaborate woodwork in the entry hall.

References

{{NRHP in Rock Island County, Illinois Houses completed in 1903 Buildings and structures in Rock Island, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Rock Island County, Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Houses in Rock Island County, Illinois