2. Taylor's Field Historic District - National Register Nomination

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Taylor’s Field Historic District Saint Joseph County, IN Name of Property County and State Sections 9-end page 30 The district has a nice collection of Queen Anne and Free Classic style houses, some with mixed elements of Colonial and Classical Revival styles, but generally they can be categorized in the Queen Anne or Free Classic movement. Combined, they equal more than half of the primary resources in the district. Most of the more substantial examples are located on St. Joseph Street, but many of equal scale and refinements are located on Carroll and South Streets. The example located at 513 St. Joseph Street (middle of photo 04) uses the typical cube form and creates asymmetry from lower cross gables. It features a rounded bay composed of cut stone on its southeast corner and a front gable covered with wood shingles that juts out from the wall. A two- sided bay is at the top of the gable and features windows and an extension of the gable wall above, also covered with shingles. The example at 530 St. Joseph (middle of photo 03) is similar with a cube form and lower cross gables. It features rounded corners on its front façade, each with curved windows, and a large wrap-around porch of cut stone, Doric columns, and an entablature with rows of dentils. An example located on 214 Monroe Street (photo 26) has early, c. 1920, alterations but again follows the cube form with lower cross gables. The home’s porch features a slender Doric column that supports a gabled pediment, and an oval window is located in the second story. The gable walls are enclosed by a continuation of the eave and feature small 1/1 windows with cornice moldings. Several of the Free Classic homes take on the general appearance of American Four Square houses but are of much larger proportions. This is true of the examples at 531 and 511 St. Joseph Street (left side of photo 01 and photo 04, respectively) and the example located at 521 South Street (photo 24). All three feature a central two-story cube with hipped roof but also include wrap-around porches and projecting two-story bays typically with hipped roofs. The examples at 531 St. Joseph and 521 South Street include attic dormers with hipped roofs, common among the Four Square style. The house at 511 St. Joseph Street features attic dormers with gabled roofs and a wrap-around porch that features piers of cut stone and Doric columns. The porch features a gabled pediment over the entry; the house at 531 St. Joseph features an arched pediment over the porch entry. The example at 521 South Street features clapboards on its first story and wood shingles on its second story. American Four Square The American Four Square type was also popular during the early 1900s. Two stories tall, rectangular in plan, and typically crowned with a hipped roof, most builders incorporated Craftsman or Colonial Revival-styled porches into their facades. The Four Square offered more living space than most bungalows while having an Arts & Crafts feeling. It is thought to have grown out of the earlier Italianate cube-style house but became more regulated in its floor plan with four rooms on the first floor and second floor. Because of its prevalence in the Midwest, it was also called the “corn belt cube”. Eight examples of the American Four Square were constructed in the district with some identifiable with Prairie Style or Craftsman features. The variations between the examples include overall size (footprint), exterior materials (brick, stucco, and clapboards), front porch arrangement, roof pitch, and dormer style.