NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A century-old house in Neenah was recently listed on the State Register of Historic Places.
According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Isabel and Orrin Johnson House on Forest Avenue was built in 1918. It was built on the foundations of an earlier house Isabel Johnson had built for her mother, Elizabeth Bacon.
Isabel Johnson’s second husband was Charles Smith, a millionaire industrialist. After Smith died, Isabel married Orrin Johnson, a stage actor who also appeared in early silent films. Orrin Johnson died in 1943, and his wife lived in the house until she died in 1950.
The historical society says:
The Johnson House retains distinctive features of the Arts and Crafts style including exterior walls finished with stucco, generous windows and entrances that connect the interior to the outdoors, a roof with multiple gables, flared fascia boards and exposed rafter tails under overhanging eaves supported by knee braces. Additional character-defining features are the Georgian Revival-style main entrance and interior details that include decorative fireplaces and classical wood paneling. The attached three-car garage is original and the earliest known in Neenah.
The State Historic Preservation Office administers the State Register and the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin.
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