Waters and the Italianate style

In the late 1860's and early 1870's the Italianate style was very popular with the wealthy home builder. William Waters designed many fine dwellings in this style both of brick and wood. In such cities as Oshkosh he designed the S. M. Hay residence, Appleton the homes of E. C. Goff and J. H. Whorton and in Neenah the same design served both C. B. Clark and Frank Shattuck.

Mr. Hay's brick house was situated near the corner of Algoma Blvd. and Jackson St. A three and a half story tower with observation window at the top was flanked to the right by a pavilion with a low pitch roof supported by decorative brackets. A transverse pavilion flanks the other side. The fenestration was regular with double windows from the foundation to the second floor at the front of the house. The tower held the front entrance which is gained by a flight of seven steps. Above the doors was balcony in front of a set of double windows which were shaded by a decorative canopy. Beyond the canopy was a set of triplet windows just below a projecting railing surrounding the observatory at the top. The tower was capped by a low pitch roof bolstered by twenty brackets and crowned with a small spire. Along the first floor of transverse pavilion was a porch which was accessed from the tower. There were two single window on the porch which were echoed on the floor above. Around the corner on the first floor was a six window bay with a set of double windows above it.

E. C. Goff's house on Prospect Avenue in Appleton was nearly a mirror image of the Hay residence with exception of the bay which was on the front of the house. The building underwent extensive remodeling early in the twentieth century and would not be recognized now as the same structure. Just down the street from the Goff place is the residence of J. H. Whorton. It has remained unchanged since the alteration of the front porch. There is a three story tower to the right, the front of which has a single arch topped window on the first and second floors just below a frieze. Above the frieze, the third floor has two arch topped window on each side. Yet another frieze is above the window with four sets of paired brackets on each side bracing a low pitch roof. Here as with the other designs a spindly spire finishes it off.

At the center of the building is the front door that was originally cover by a small porch and above that a window. Sometime in the 1890's perhaps the front porch was expanded and cover the entire front of the house. To the left is a pavilion with sets of arch top double window on the first and second floors. A small balcony once graced the front of the widows of the first floor but was removed to make way for the porch. At the top of the gable wall is a round window ringed by four keystones like the points of a compass rose. There is a frieze with paired brackets supporting cornice returns and a low pitch roof. Smaller bracket ascend to the peek of the roof on the under side of the eaves on both sides.

An image of the C. B. Clark and Frank Shattuck residences can be seen in an earlier post "Two for the price of one"