Laserfiche WebLink
STAFF REPORT <br />CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A <br />CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS <br />Application Number: 2001-0710-2 <br />Property Location: 521 River <br />Property Owner: Neal Nowak <br />Landmark or District Designation: LHD-EP <br />Rating: C/9 <br />STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT <br />This house was built around 1920 by developers, Whitcomb and Keller for Frank <br />and Glenna Jeffries. Frank was born in 1894 to Jarvis and Elizabeth Jeffries. He moved <br />to South Bend in 1912 to take a job with the Tribune. He eventually ended his <br />association with the Tribune in 1919 and began his own real estate, loans and insurance <br />company, which lasted nine years. In 1928, he became the associate editor and field <br />manager of the Farmer's Exchange in New Paris, Indiana. He was also nominated for <br />Vice -President of the United States on the Greenback ticket in 1944. By 1945 Mr. <br />Jeffries health was failing so the couple moved to Florida where he died in 1947. Mr. & <br />Mrs. Jeffries only resided at 521 River Avenue, for a couple of years; they sold it to <br />Abraham Simon in 1922. Mr. Simon, a native of Germany, came to South Bend in 1890. <br />He operated Simon & Simon Company, which owned a chain of grocery stores through <br />out the South Bend area. The Simons lived in this house until 1933 at which time they <br />began renting the property. In 1940, they rented the house to Philip Oestreicher who <br />eventually bought the property in 1946. Philip was born in Austria in 1893 and came to <br />the United States in 1910. Mr. Oestreicher was a realtor and operator of Columbia Food <br />Shop. He and his wife resided in this house until 1970 when it was sold to Lloyd & <br />Ardenia Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers is listed as the resident from 1971 to 1990. Ardenia <br />Rodgers gave up her claim to the property to Lloyd in 1978. Mr. Rodgers sold the house <br />in 1994 to Ernest Hursey. The house was eventually sold to the current owner, Neal <br />Nowak in 2001. <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />The Preservation Guidelines for the Edgewater Place Local Historic District follow the <br />Rehabilitation Model. <br />The applicant is requesting to remove a rear mudroom from the house. The <br />addition is not original, was poorly constructed and is currently pulling away from the <br />