National Register of Historic Places

Jones, John H., House

Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin
Listed
March 14, 2008
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
08000186

About this property

The John H. Jones House is a Queen Anne-style house built in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1890, now carefully restored. In 2007 the house was added to the State Register of Historic Places and to the National Register of Historic Places the following year. In 1835 the first settlers arrived in what would become Janesville, surrounded by some of the most fertile prairies in the state. The settlement grew in those early years on agricultural and later manufacturing industries. By the late 1800s it traded and processed tobacco from the surrounding farms, and the downtown had grown to span both sides of the Rock River. John H. Jones was a successful merchant who in 1890 built this house near his business downtown. He didn't build this house as large as some of the professionals and industrialist built over in what is now the Courthouse Hill district, but he chose the same Queen Anne style - popular at the time - and his house is still impressive. The house has a complex roofline, a corner tower, an asymmetric wraparound porch, and varied surface textures, in the clapboard first story versus the shingled second. All of these are hallmarks of Queen Anne style. Of interest in this design are the triangular pediments looking out of the gable peaks and the decorated frieze beneath the eaves. Inside the house, walls are plastered, and most first floor rooms have crown moldings and picture rails. Pocket doors connect many first floor rooms and the parlor features a fireplace. An oak Eastlake-style staircase leads to the second floor. Behind the house sits a 2-story carriage house. After the Joneses left the house in the early 20th century, it became a rental property and fell into disrepair. In 1995 James and Jan Chesmore bought it and began restoration work.

Location

538 S. Main St.
Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin
42.67671, -89.01579

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Janesville High School
Industrial
0.1 mi
Lovejoy and Merrill-Nowlan Houses
Civil War
0.4 mi
Janesville Public Library
Industrial
0.4 mi
Janesville Pumping Station
Industrial
0.4 mi
Court Street Methodist Church
Industrial
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Jones, John H., House listed on the National Register?

Jones, John H., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 14, 2008.

What type of historic resource is Jones, John H., House?

Jones, John H., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Jones, John H., House?

The period of significance for Jones, John H., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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