Wahle-Laird House facts for kids
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Wahle-Laird House
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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| Location | 208 S. Cherry St., Marshfield, Wisconsin |
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| Built | 1904 |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Part of | Pleasant Hill Residential Historic District (ID00000780) |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001988 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | January 30, 1992 |
| Designated CP | July 5, 2000 |
The Wahle-Laird House is a beautiful home built in 1904 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. It was designed in a style called Classical Revival. A doctor named Henry Wahle had it built. Later, it became the childhood home of Melvin Laird. He grew up to be a very important person, serving as a U.S. Senator and later as the Secretary of Defense.
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A Special House in Marshfield
The Wahle-Laird House is a historic building. It is important because of its unique design and the famous people who lived there. It shows us what homes looked like a long time ago.
The Pleasant Hill Neighborhood
The "Pleasant Hill" area in Marshfield was a popular place for important families to build their homes. This started way back in the 1880s. Many of the first houses built there were in the Queen Anne style. Some of these old houses are still standing today.
One well-known person who lived in this neighborhood was William Duncan Connor. He was a lumberman, meaning he worked with wood and forests. He also served in public office, even becoming the Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. His large house was on Cherry Street, right where Faith Lutheran Church is now.
Building the Wahle-Laird House
In 1904, Dr. Henry Wahle, who was a doctor and surgeon, built his new house. It was built right across Cherry Street from Mr. Connor's home. This new house replaced an older one that was already on the land.
The Wahle-Laird House looked very different from the older Queen Anne homes nearby. It was built in a newer style. The house has a compact, square shape with a hip roof. This roof style slopes down on all four sides. The roof also has wide eaves, which are the parts that hang over the walls. This shape was common for a style called American Foursquare.
Classical Revival Style Details
Even though the house has a simple shape, its decorations are in the Classical Revival style. This style uses ideas from ancient Greek and Roman buildings.
The front of the house is perfectly balanced. The front door is right in the middle. Around the door is a raised porch area called a portico. This portico is held up by square columns and flat columns called pilasters. These columns have fancy tops called Corinthian capitals, which are decorated with designs that look like acanthus leaves.
Above the portico is a balcony. It has a low railing, called a balustrade, around its edge. A bay window sticks out into this balcony area. The outside walls of the house are covered with narrow wooden boards. The wide eaves of the roof are supported by small decorative blocks called modillions.
You can also see gabled dormers coming out of the hip roof. These are small roofed sections with windows. The one on the front has a balustrade that matches the one on the portico below it. At the very top of the hip roof is a widow's walk. This is a small platform, also with a balustrade, where people could walk. Behind it, a large chimney rises up.
Inside the House
When you step inside the front door, you enter a small area called a vestibule. This leads into a reception hall. The walls in this hall are made of cherry wood, and the ceiling has a special pattern called a coffered ceiling.
From the reception hall, cherry wood columns frame the entrance to the living room. This large room stretches across the south side of the house and has a big brick fireplace. The dining room has oak wood panels on the lower part of the walls, with a shelf called a plate rail above them. This design is in the Arts and Crafts style.
A staircase in the middle of the back of the house leads to the second floor. This floor has four bedrooms. The stairs continue up to the third floor, which is an attic. There's a hatch in the attic ceiling that lets you go out onto the widow's walk on the roof.
This house is important not just for its architecture, but also for its connection to the Laird family. This is why it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Laird Family Moves In
In 1923, W. D. Connor bought this house. He bought it as a gift for his daughter, Helen Connor Laird, and her husband, Reverend Melvin Robert Laird. Reverend Laird was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. The Connors attended this church, and Helen and Melvin had married there ten years earlier.
Helen and Melvin had lived in other states like Illinois and Nebraska. But in 1924, they moved back to Marshfield with their first two children. They lived right across the street from Helen's father, Grandpa Connor.
Important People Who Lived Here
The Wahle-Laird House was home to some very influential people.
Helen Connor Laird's Contributions
Helen Connor Laird was involved in politics from a young age. When she was just 16, her father was the head of the Republican Party in Wisconsin. She helped him by putting up signs for Robert M. La Follette in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.
When she lived in Illinois, Helen started a local Women's Club. She also worked to make sure milk was pure and safe for everyone. She pushed for a public playground and a YMCA, which is a place where "men and boys of all classes will find a welcome."
Helen strongly supported women getting the right to vote. She believed that having a say in government would make women "truer, more active being[s] with a broader horizon." She was even the main speaker at Marshfield's Armistice Day celebration in 1918. By 1926, she was known for supporting the World Court, which helps solve problems between countries. By 1936, she was the Wisconsin leader for an organization called The Cause and Cure of War.
In 1940, Helen made history by becoming the first woman president of the Marshfield Board of Education. In 1945, she resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution because they sponsored an art show that only allowed white artists. She always supported libraries and was appointed to Wisconsin's State Library Board in 1950. Starting in 1951, she served on the UW Board of Regents, which oversees the state's universities.
Melvin R. Laird Sr.'s Public Service
Helen's husband, Melvin R. Laird Sr., also had an impressive career. He had been the president of Lincoln College in Illinois. During WWI, he served as an army chaplain in Europe, helping soldiers with their spiritual needs.
After returning to Marshfield, he became a director at the Connor Lumber and Land Company. He was also very active in community affairs. He led the Wood County Citizen's Committee on Public Welfare and served on the board of the Wood County Asylum. He also chaired the Wood County Board of Supervisors. From 1941 until his death in 1946, he served as a state Senator.
Helen and Melvin Sr. raised four sons in the Wahle-Laird House. Their son, Melvin Robert Laird, became the most famous. He took over his father's seat in the State Senate. Then he served in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is part of the U.S. Congress. Later, he became the Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon.
