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Bank Block

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1897. Southeast corner of Water and Winnebago streets

A classicized late Richardsonian Romanesque design in brick, the block displays a stone wainscoting that progresses across the two faces to the rounded corner. At this point the stone dips into the wall recess and moves upward to support a wide stone lintel. A single polished quarter-column dominates the entrance. Above, the rounded bay tower continues up above the second floor where it ends in a suggestion of medieval crenellation and a conical roof sheathed in metal shingles. Across Main Street facing directly onto Winnebago Street is the former Saint Cloud Hotel Building (c. 1878). Though the building has been remodeled on the street level, the third-floor central bay and the wonderful metal entablature, cornice, and gable above are what we all think of when we speak of Victorian architecture.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

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Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Bank Block", [Decorah, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-NO094.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 377-377.

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