1904 Queen Anne - Frank Eby House - South Bend, IN - 3rd year in
Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 3:40 am
Hello everyone.. Came across your forum a couple times while Googling but more recently have been listening to the True Stories From Old Homes podcast, where you're referenced a few different times. Thought I would introduce myself. My wife and I moved into this house almost 3 years ago. We're in our early 30's. We weren't even looking to move originally but we were instead looking at homes for my brother who was going to be moving back to our hometown. We went to look at a few other houses on the same street when the owner mentioned that she would also be selling her primary residence later that Summer and went we took the tour we fell in love instantly.
The house was in fairly immaculate condition inside with no painted trim on the main floor and really no interior projects that "needed" to be done before move in. Obviously since moving in, I've managed to spend nearly every weekend on various projects, mostly enjoyable, but some necessary like correcting siding/paint issues on the 3rd level and the small carriage house. Looking forward to taking the time to dive into some conversations on this forum and hopefully pick the brains of other passionate people who I'm sure are more knowledgeable than me. There are photos below or some additional in this link, some of which might be old or from the day we walked through. https://imgur.com/a/nHg7l2F
Figured I could try to describe the house myself....or just copy and paste the write-up from the historical application.
"The house is two-and-a-half stories tall. It has side gables and a slightly lower, wide center front gable. The home has a
brick foundation and clapboards covering its walls. The bottom of the second story's walls flare out slightly; there are
corner boards on the first story walls but none on the second story walls. The gables have wood shingles and partial
cornice returns that are supported by carved wood brackets. The tops of the gables have a triangular section of wall that
projects forward and is supported by modillions. The triangular wall bows outward slightly and a diamond design is located
near the top of the front gable. The house has wood soffits and a narrow cornice on its eaves; the roof is covered with
fiberglass shingles. A tall brick chimney is located west of the front gable. The windows are wood in a combination of
double-hung windows and single sashes.
The front facade has a full-width porch with concrete steps centered with the front gable and framed between short brick
walls with stone caps. Brick piers with stone caps support groups of three Doric columns at each corner of the porch and
on each side of the center entry. The porch has a wood floor and a balustrade between the piers with wood picket style
balusters and wood handrails. The columns support a tall cornice with a row of dentils along the soffits of the porch roof.
The porch roof is a low-sloped hipped roof with a pedimented entry over the steps. The entry door is wood with a
decorative wood screen door to its outside. The entry has a side lite on each side of the door. A tall cornice with wood
dentils covers the door and side lites. A large picture window with a transom is centered in the first story wall east of the
entry and a large picture window with a narrow window on each side is centered in the wall west of the entry.
The second story's front wall projects slightly forward where the center gable is located. Centered in the wall is a pair of
windows with wide trim boards recessed deeply into the wall. The windows have hexagonal and diamond-shaped designs
created by wood mullions. Centered in the walls east and west of the pair of windows is a 1/1 window. Centered in the
gable wall is a 12/12 window that is deeply recessed into the wall. The wood shingles curve inward from the wall to the
window. A wood balcony railing is in front of the window and curves outward slightly from the wall.
The home was constructed in 1904, on a lot that had been purchased with an older home located on it for $7500. Frank
Eby was born in Lebanon County, PAin 1856. He moved to Elkhart, Indiana and became a representative of the Singer
Sewing Machine Company. In 1892, he became associated with Armour & Co. Meat Packing of Chicago, later becoming
branch manager and the dean of Armour Credit supervisors. Frank and his wife, Anna, had their home constructed in
1904. He became the president of the South Bend Chamber of Commerce and was active in other civic organizations.
He died in 1928, and the funeral was held in the home.
The house was in fairly immaculate condition inside with no painted trim on the main floor and really no interior projects that "needed" to be done before move in. Obviously since moving in, I've managed to spend nearly every weekend on various projects, mostly enjoyable, but some necessary like correcting siding/paint issues on the 3rd level and the small carriage house. Looking forward to taking the time to dive into some conversations on this forum and hopefully pick the brains of other passionate people who I'm sure are more knowledgeable than me. There are photos below or some additional in this link, some of which might be old or from the day we walked through. https://imgur.com/a/nHg7l2F
Figured I could try to describe the house myself....or just copy and paste the write-up from the historical application.
"The house is two-and-a-half stories tall. It has side gables and a slightly lower, wide center front gable. The home has a
brick foundation and clapboards covering its walls. The bottom of the second story's walls flare out slightly; there are
corner boards on the first story walls but none on the second story walls. The gables have wood shingles and partial
cornice returns that are supported by carved wood brackets. The tops of the gables have a triangular section of wall that
projects forward and is supported by modillions. The triangular wall bows outward slightly and a diamond design is located
near the top of the front gable. The house has wood soffits and a narrow cornice on its eaves; the roof is covered with
fiberglass shingles. A tall brick chimney is located west of the front gable. The windows are wood in a combination of
double-hung windows and single sashes.
The front facade has a full-width porch with concrete steps centered with the front gable and framed between short brick
walls with stone caps. Brick piers with stone caps support groups of three Doric columns at each corner of the porch and
on each side of the center entry. The porch has a wood floor and a balustrade between the piers with wood picket style
balusters and wood handrails. The columns support a tall cornice with a row of dentils along the soffits of the porch roof.
The porch roof is a low-sloped hipped roof with a pedimented entry over the steps. The entry door is wood with a
decorative wood screen door to its outside. The entry has a side lite on each side of the door. A tall cornice with wood
dentils covers the door and side lites. A large picture window with a transom is centered in the first story wall east of the
entry and a large picture window with a narrow window on each side is centered in the wall west of the entry.
The second story's front wall projects slightly forward where the center gable is located. Centered in the wall is a pair of
windows with wide trim boards recessed deeply into the wall. The windows have hexagonal and diamond-shaped designs
created by wood mullions. Centered in the walls east and west of the pair of windows is a 1/1 window. Centered in the
gable wall is a 12/12 window that is deeply recessed into the wall. The wood shingles curve inward from the wall to the
window. A wood balcony railing is in front of the window and curves outward slightly from the wall.
The home was constructed in 1904, on a lot that had been purchased with an older home located on it for $7500. Frank
Eby was born in Lebanon County, PAin 1856. He moved to Elkhart, Indiana and became a representative of the Singer
Sewing Machine Company. In 1892, he became associated with Armour & Co. Meat Packing of Chicago, later becoming
branch manager and the dean of Armour Credit supervisors. Frank and his wife, Anna, had their home constructed in
1904. He became the president of the South Bend Chamber of Commerce and was active in other civic organizations.
He died in 1928, and the funeral was held in the home.