PRATT HOUSE

PRATT HOUSE726 CHURCH – PRATT HOUSE
Mrs. Gertrude Pratt bought the property located at 726 Church from William Porter in 1889. The beautifully crafted house was built in the next year, 1890. Mrs. Pratt lived here until 1924, when she sold it to E. B. West of Illinois.

This large residence exemplifies the Queen Anne style in Beloit. Rising two stories plus attic, the frame house has a complex roof line with hip and gabled elements. A series of rounded, square and chamfered bays project from the facade, while the cross gables are pedimented and feature heavy cornices. But the most remarkable feature of the house is the variegated siding. Smooth and narrow clapboarding wraps tightly around the first story while shingles in a reticulated pattern animate the upper stories with movement and texture. The entry porch features heavy Eastlake-like porch posts and a perforated frieze, while Stick-like latticework ornaments the porch pediment and gables. Vergeboards, brackets, and a brick chimney rising through both stories and well above the roof ridge provide more variety to this Queen Anne home. The single most distinctive details are ogee shaped brackets on the front porch pillars; where the pillars are paired across the front these brackets meet to form a complete ogee arch.