Fabled Gables: 227 West Anapamu Street

Original Owner: Catherine Jenks

Year Built: 1886-1887

Architect: unknown

Victorian architecture –– referring to the reign of Queen Victoria in England (1837-1901) –– was a series of revival styles derived in the mid to late 19th century in both western Europe and the United States. Within the Victorian era, the Queen Anne style emerged and became one of several popular vernaculars in America. The distinguishing hallmarks of traditional Queen Anne residences tend to be more basic and less ornate than a traditional Victorian, with little to no fishscale siding and modest design with spindles, brackets, and trim around windows and porches.

This week’s column features a simplified Queen Anne, whose origin dates to 1885, when Catherine Jenks purchased vacant land on block 127, parcel 25. Between 1886-1887, the residence was constructed with the following attributes:

• Built on a raised cement foundation

• Rectangular floor plan

• Hipped gable roof with asphalt shingles

• Narrow shiplap siding in both vertical and horizontal patterns

• Decorative spindlework and columns built on front porch

• Decorative scrollwork along porch and rooftop eaves

• Rectangular bay window

• Octagonal tower, topped with iron finial or weather vane