The A.M. Detmer House is a historic residence in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1880s, it has been named a historic site as an example of the work of a prominent architect. Amadeus M. Detmer was a leading member of the firm of Warburg and Company,Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 588-589. which was located at Sixth and Main Streets

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

; it did business as a "merchant tailor", serving high-end buyers of custom clothing. Detmer had the house built in 1885, choosing leading Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford to produce the design; Hannaford had become prominent because of his design for

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

in the 1870s, and by 1885 he was approaching the end of his time in independent practice.Gordon, Stephen C., and Elisabeth H. Tuttle. '. National Park Service, 1978-12-11. Detmer's house is a brick building constructed on a stone foundation., Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2013-12-25. Rather than exemplifying a single architectural style, the house is

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

. Among its prominent components are a trio of parapets mixing the roles of gables and

dormer windows A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

, constructed in a

Flemish Revival Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; i ...

style; a porch with

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns underneath a pediment, constructed around the main entrance; and numerous

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

led chimneys. Two

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wide, the facade includes

stringcourses A course is a layer of the same unit running horizontally in a wall. It can also be defined as a continuous row of any masonry unit such as bricks, concrete masonry units (CMU), stone, shingles, tiles, etc. Coursed masonry construction arranges ...

of limestone as part of its Flemish Revival parapet, along with small

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

s; together with the chimneys and the steep hip roof, the parapets help to lend the house the appearance of height greater than its actual two and a half

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

. In 1980, the A.M. Detmer House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it qualified for inclusion due to its well-preserved historic architecture. Nearly 40 other properties in Cincinnati and other parts of Hamilton County, including 14 other houses, were added to the Register at the same time as part of a multiple property submission of buildings designed by Samuel Hannaford and/or his sons. The Detmer House is significantly newer than some of the houses included in this group, for the oldest of Hannaford's residential designs in the city was constructed in 1862.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Detmer, A.M., House Houses completed in 1885 Houses in Cincinnati Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Victorian architecture in Ohio 1885 establishments in Ohio