The Adaptive Reuse of Older Buildings Preserves Local History
The cream brick Italianate-style house at 701 Marshall Street, Manitowoc, has retained its architectural and historical integrity since construction in the 1850s.
Bob Fay photo, November 22, 2024
Adaptive reuse is the process of reusing a historic building or structure for a new purpose while preserving its historical or architectural significance.
Historic buildings come in all shapes, sizes and uses - homes, schools, churches, commercial and retail properties, mills, factories, warehouses and barns, each with a unique story to tell. There are many advantages of adaptive reuse. It preserves the history of a building, helps revitalize downtowns and neighborhoods and lowers the impact on the environment by using fewer materials and less energy than new construction. It also creates new housing, office space, restaurants and stores in communities.
Manitowoc County has many older buildings that have been repurposed for new uses by individuals, businesses and others.
A small two-story cream brick house at 701 Marshall Street on Manitowoc’s south side is a recent example of new uses in old spaces. The building was originally constructed in 1854 as a private residence on a 46 × 120 foot lot on the southwest corner of Marshall and S. Seventh Streets, about one block east of First German Evangelical Lutheran Church, two blocks south of William Rahr’s Eagle brewery and within easy walking distance of Manitowoc’s downtown area.
According to the 1988 Manitowoc Intensive Resource Survey Report, the house is the oldest remaining residential structure in the S. Seventh and Marshall Street neighborhood, a historic district eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This part of Ward 1 was settled by German immigrants such as the Buersttates, Rahrs, Richters, Burgers and Schuettes.
Architecturally, the front facade is symmetrical, featuring three long, slender windows on the second floor above two similar windows and a door on first floor. The front door is not original and is a replacement. A lunate, or semicircle, transom window above the door has been covered over with a modern panel.
Windows and the front door have brick hoodmolds that are round at the top, reminiscent of Roman arches, a unique design characteristic of Italianate style of architecture. Three courses of projecting ornamental, or corbelled, bricks decorate upper exterior walls at the cornice, just below a low pitch hipped roof. Bricks used in construction may have come from Groffman & Meyer – the first brickyard in the city.
Other features of the building include a small open side porch and entry on the east side of the main block along S. Seventh Street and a one-story brick rear wing with a modern steel sloped cellar door entrance. The main block of the house has a crawl space.
Land records at the courthouse list 15 different owners of the Marshall Street property since 1848. Village/city directories since 1868 list the names of owners and residents. Census records provide additional historical information on individuals and families.
Gustave and Hattie Alter and their children lived in the house from 1890 to 1916. Gustave began working at the Schuette store at the age of 13 when he left grade school to work for his uncle John Schuette. Gustave was a clerk and later treasurer and an incorporator of Schuette Bros. Co. in 1901. The 1900 Census indicates 15-year-old servant Lena Schmahlfuss from the Town of Centerville lived with the Alter family.
From about 1920 and for the next six decades, the house at 701 Marshall Street was rental property with separate living units, one-up, one-down. The names of renters at 701 and 701A Marshall are too numerous to list.
From 1974 to 1997, the house was the dental office of Dr. Stephen Mann. It then became the law office of Daniel Glaeser for several years.
In 2022, the building was purchased by Virginia Laukka for her working artist studio and gallery space. The first floor was refurbished with new white oak flooring, ceiling track lighting and other amenities. A renovated one-bedroom vacation rental apartment above the studio features a kitchen, living area, bedroom and bath.
The house at 701 Marshall Street remains in excellent condition and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural integrity and historical value.
Many thanks to all who adaptively reuse, restore, renovate and maintain historic buildings. Your efforts help preserve our county’s rich heritage and greatly contribute to the vitality, creativity and economic progress of our communities.
