The William H. and Alma Downer Campbell House is a historic house in
Wabasha, Minnesota, United States. When it was built in 1874, it overlooked downtown Wabasha. The house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for having local significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for being one of the largest and most prominent houses of its era in Wabasha.
Description
Although the Campbell House has a brick veneer, it is a wood
frame building on a limestone foundation. It has a somewhat irregular footprint, with three
gabled sections that rise two stories and a fourth section that rises one story and has a flat roof. The house's
massing, rooflines, window placement, and wide
frieze boards suggest
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
, but the segmental-arched windows, bowed shutters,
fanlight
A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
over the front doors, and centered attic window are more characteristic of
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
.
In the house's original configuration, the wings to the northwest and southwest stood just one story, and the latter, a kitchen, was all wood. A major remodeling around the year 1900 raised both wings to two stories. They also received brick cladding, rooflines, and window treatments that were closely matched with the central section. During this remodeling the interior was retrimmed with oak and a grand staircase added.
A detached garage at the rear of the property is a more recent addition and is not considered a contributing element to the historic house.
History
William H. Campbell settled in Wabasha in 1857, though he left temporarily to serve in the
American Civil War. Upon his return he gained prosperity as a merchant and agriculturalist, one of the few Wabasha-based merchants to also have extensive farming interests. He served as Wabasha County auditor for many years beginning in 1872, and was also master of the
Bear Valley Grange Hall. With assistance from his father-in-law, Campbell had this house constructed in 1874, where it proudly overlooked a downtown that both men had helped establish economically.
The Campbell House is an example of some 20 brick residences surviving from the 19th century in Wabasha. All were built by the first two generations of the city's merchant class, forming a distinctive architectural stock that contrasts with the elaborate wood-frame
Victorian architecture that characterized most other communities in Minnesota. As time went on the choice of building material appears to have been a matter of local taste rather than accessibility, as Wabasha was not a major brick manufacturer compared to
Lake City and
Red Wing upriver.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Wabasha County, Minnesota
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, William H. and Alma Downer, House
1874 establishments in Minnesota
Houses completed in 1874
Houses in Wabasha County, Minnesota
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Wabasha County, Minnesota
Wabasha, Minnesota