Beloit’s Historic Rasey House & River Stone Construction

Beloit’s Historic Rasey House

& River Stone Construction

It’s likely most folks know about Beloit’s historic Rasey House and have visited at one time or another. We finally stopped in for the first time during the Beloit Heritage Days just passed and had a wonderful time talking with the volunteers. It’s an amazing house and and a very special and integral piece of Beloit history. It seems so many of these historic home’s residents and the historic structures themselves factor into the stories of other’s lives and events.

I love good stories. Rasey House has lots.

Its a fascinating piece of local history not simply from the standpoint of historic architecture but also the lives of the figures who made Rasey their home and the intertwining of these stories with other lives and events.

The stories around this relatively unique building construction are very interesting. As you likely know historic river stone constructed buildings are increasing rare as more are being demolished passively due to neglect or intentionally as they’re considered to be in the way of the current purpose.

Rasey house itself on more then one occasion had been threatened with demolition. It’s sad to think if those efforts had been successful. The home, for years now has been lovingly maintained by the Beloit Chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution.

I think Beloit is a better place because Rasey House has survived and the DAR’s stewardship. It is a significant part of what makes Beloit distinctive, anchored and, well… non-generic. It’s part of Beloit’s identity.

The expression is “death by a thousand cuts” meaning that a major single blow did not fell the victim but rather it was little bit by little bit. The single impact of any one or even several events did not cause the demise however, over time, the cumulative result is none the less the same. I understand that at one time Beloit was distinct in the region for the number of river stone building in town. Over thirty as I recall. We are now down to three. It’s too bad.

Beloit’s Rasey Home came to mind as a friend of mine from another historic community, Elgin IL just posted some wonderful pictures of a river stone constructed home in their community. It’s very cool. You can see it here. Love the original rough hewn timber framing and while not original to the house it sports a very early radiator that’s kinda cool.

As long as we’re at it. I understand there are efforts to try and save another Beloit river stone home over on St. Lawrence. Not sure of current status.

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Old House Unveilings

Old House Unveilings – What a concept!

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While I’ve blogged on the concept before it’s likely a completely foreign concept to many people. Perhaps most.

I’ve talked about communities like Elgin Illinois where they’ve been doing this for years. I’ve mentioned Rock Island Ill too, where Elgin got the idea from and where they’ve been doing this for about 17 years now. They’ve gotten to the point where they don’t do it so much any more as they’re running out of candidate home to unveil.

I just heard about an old house unveiling in another community, Hannibal Mo, home of Mark Twain, population ~ 17k.

What’s an old house unveiling? It has some similarities to an old fashioned barn raising whereby neighbors and the community come together to uncover an old house that’s been cloaked for years by unoriginal siding.

This example in Hannibal MO while recently uncovered is still incomplete in its restoration. All the same you can see where this is going. And you can likely see the potential the owners are striving to regain.

I would imagine that such an undertaking and the fear of the unknown would give most people pause. Quoting Bob Yapp, historic preservation consultant…

Under the replacement siding we usually find excellent clapboard, trim, decorative wood shingles and all the wonderful textures these materials bring to the look and feel of an old house. Rarely have I seen an unveiled house that needed more than 5% to 7% clapboard or trim replacement.

Which is not to say there’s not a lot of work to be done. More, that it’s not as scary as you might imagine and not more then a motivated home owner with some vision (and some wallet) can manage. As far as wallet goes though, such an undertaking is not without its benefits. Again as Mr. Yapp was told on his TV show, “About Your House with Bob Yapp”…

I meet a lot of appraisers across the country and they’re telling me they add value to older homes with original, well-painted, wood siding and trim. “Bob, your right on that. It’s important that owners of older homes go with the original character and warmth of the era the home was built. When buyers are out there looking for older houses, they’re looking for original siding and trim,”

~ Iowa & Illinois appraiser, Dick Koestner.

I imagine some might see this as counter intuitive. And again Mr. Yapp on Old House Unveilings...

So why remove that so-called “maintenance free” replacement siding? Throughout the 20^th century, the first sign a historic neighborhood is in decline is when replacement siding starts going up. It is a clear indication that people are no longer willing or able to maintain their homes.

Indeed there have been some individuals who’ve uncovered their homes here in Beloit. With a little encouragement and community support perhaps there may be more. Not only is the change dramatic for the individual home. It can likewise be a catalyst for that street. The neighborhood benefits which is why the community turns out.

• - Old House unveiling in Rock Island IL.
• - Old House unveiling in Elgin IL.
• - Old House unveiling in Hannibal MO. (click on photos to enlarge)
  

A Neighborhood Stroll

A Neighborhood Stroll

Self-Guided Tours of Beloit Historic Districts

Another project undertaken by the Beloit Landmarks Commission and lead by Marge Fizzell along with J. Beckman has been the creation of an online self-guided tour of Beloit’s Historic Districts. A new website has been created and you can see A Neighborhood Stroll here. It’s a work in progress check it out and watch for further development.

Beloit Heritage Days – New beginning for commission

Beloit Historic District Neighborhood Walk

The Beloit Landmarks Commission sponsored several events this year for the Beloit Heritage Days just passed. For a first effort it went very well. We look forward to expanding on this effort for next year.

There was a good turn out for each of the three speaker presentations and the comments from those who attended were very encouraging. Representatives from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office spoke on

• - Old House Renovation 101
• - Identifying Popular Housing Styles
• - How To Research The History Of Your Home

Additionally they hosted their first historic district neighborhood walk in years. It was very well attended. Learnings will be gathered from this first effort, the guided tour will be refined and later made available for other community occasions. This first year took attendees through the College Park Historic District. Next year the Bluff Street Historic District will be added.

3rd Annual Pumpkins For The Park

Carved Pumpkin Sale

A Benefit For The Historic Horace White Park!

Saturday Oct 24th. 5:30 pm at the park

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Now in it’s 3rd year the neighbors on Church Street have been hosting this popular event to support Horace White Park.

• - Sale begins at 5:30
  
• - All pumpkins are $5 and reserved on a first-come, first-served basis
• – Pumpkins to remain on display until 7:00 pm at which time you can take your pumpkin home.
  

The best pumpkins go fast so don’t be late.  

(If you’d like to keep the cool little electric light inside… $6/pumpkin w/ light)

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Sponsored by: Bushel & Peck’s Local Market

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Photos curtesy of Old Onliner.

Last Year:

Next NPA Gathering Mon. 9/28 – Historic Beloit Photo Essay

Rob Baller’s Historic Beloit Photo Essay

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Come out and join us for our next Beloit NPA gathering. We think you’ll enjoy it.

If you’ve not seen Rob Baller’s amazing slide presentation of historic Beloit you’ve really missed something. It’s a little difficult to describe. You just have to witness it.

What he’s done is gathered numerous historic Beloit photos. He then researched determine from  what exact location the various photos were taken from and then took contemporary photos from the same vantage point. Through various computer aided graphics techniques he’s been able to morph the old photo into the contemporary one. Its really amazing to watch the transformation.

Beyond being thoroughly entertaining it’s both informative and educational as to how our city has evolved over time and what some of the influences were for these changes. It’s sure to evoke a lot of conversation.

• - Date:  Monday Sept. 28th
  
• - Time:  7:00 p.m.
  
• - Location:  Vision Beloit Center – Conference Room (500 Public Ave.)

Beloit NPA Membership

Become a Beloit NPA Member!

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Ok, ok… so here’s the deal.

To date we’ve intentionally not bothered with membership fees and such as, well frankly we’ve not wanted to have anything that might hinder folks from coming out and joining us. Neither have we wanted to foster any sort of exclusionary aspect to this humble gathering of neighbors. And finally, there’s not really been any need for it, meaning, we’ve not been incurring any real expense beyond what folks have volunteered.

So what’s changed?

We still don’t want “membership” to get in the way. If you’re not a “member” you’re still very much welcome and we hope you’ll come out and join us and meet your neighbors. No bouncers at the door. We do though need to cover an upcoming expense beyond what we’d expect anyone(s) to shoulder themselves.

A few months ago Bob F. graciously worked out our incorporation as well as covered that expense. We’ve since formed our board of directors. And more recently Rick D. and John W. have been quietly preparing our not-for-profit application. While our predecessor, N.E.S.N.A. graciously bequeathed their remaining funds to us we’ve several hundred dollars to make up to cover the expense of NFP filing.

Why this is important?

In order for us to qualify for grant applications and take advantage of myriad other opportunities we need this in place. These in turn will allow us to build out programs and benefits we’d like to make available that we believe would be beneficial to the historic district(s) and surrounding vintage neighborhood. More about this under separate cover and your input is welcome.

Yeah, yeah… So what’s it gonna’ cost me?

We’re painfully aware of the current economic situation. And it would seem every organization, association, club, and worthy cause is asking for your financial help these days. So with that we’re asking folks to pony up just $5 for a year’s membership.

If enough folks participate that should get us where we need to be. If you’re willing/able we’d certainly appreciate your dropping in a few extra $. As you know we’re all volunteers. No one’s getting paid for any of this.

So, where, how do I do this?

On the right side of this page in the navigation you’ll see “SUPPORT BELOIT NPA BY BECOMING A MEMBER”. This is our Paypall account. Just put in $5 or whatever you’d be willing to help with and follow the directions. We’ll record your 1 yr. membership.
Thanks for your support.

Need Wooden Storm Window Help?

Wooden Storm Windows

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The seasonal chore of taking down wooden storm windows and swapping them with the screens in the Spring then reversing the process in the Fall was part of a discussion the other day.

Though these “old fashion” storms perform better and hold up longer then contemporary double-hung replacements perhaps you’d rather not deal with them any more.

An option to discarding your homes original and functional storms and buying new, lesser quality and not inexpensive storms is getting someone else to take care of this chore for you. We’re fortunate to have a campus right next door. One quick email elicited several students within hours willing to unburden you of this task.

If interested in having someone else do this for you let me know.

rick(at)BeloitNPA(dot)org

Pleasant St Coffee House Closed

Some of us who frequented Pleasant St Coffee House…

came the day after it’s closing to have our own private goodbye.  Here’s what we left behind.  We hope others will feel free to add their own touch.  Our goal is to have as many people show their support for having a coffee shop nearby.

“overwhelmed”!

Am newly “onboard”,

and quite frankly, new on the whole internet circa! (is there a group for recovering “luddites”?) So glad to be part of the neighborhood group. Y’all understand, don’t you, that I am living in a very challenging environment: i.e. Emerson Hall Apartments. Need I say more?