Outdoor Wednesday: Walking Tour

Welcome to another Outdoor Wednesday; which is graciously hosted by A Southern Daydreamer!

This week I will take you on a brief walking tour of my city. Specifically, a neighborhood which is very near to ours and which I enjoy immensely because of the beautiful homes to be found there and the history!

Just around the corner after leaving our house we will encounter the former Chicago and Northwestern Railway train depot. Built in 1881 in the Victorian Gothic style of cream brick and limestone foundation, was a very busy depot during the city's resort period. Passenger service ended here in the 1950s and was vacated by the railroad in 1964. Today it is a very popular restaurant that serves Mexican food.

There are old rail cars behind the depot on a set of un-used tracks. These are actually connected to the restaurant and are used for dining for restaurant patrons.

There are actually railroad tracks behind these that are still in use by Amtrak and freight trains, so if you are dining in one of the old railroad cars, you might be treated to seeing  trains whiz by your windows while you are eating. I always have one of their peach margaritas when I go here!

This is one of the older houses in the neighborhood that I'm walking through. Like many homes in our city, it is constructed of Cream City brick and limestone. The limestone is often referred to as "Lannon stone" here, because there are a dozen or so limestone quarries in a town called Lannon that is not far away. Our town also has two operating quarries.It was one of the first industries for which our town was first known for; the earliest quarry was opened in 1840. This house has an especially pretty wooded yard and in the summer, there is English ivy climbing over many of the walls. (The leaves aren't sprouted yet--too early!)

This house is one of the few in town of the Spanish/Mediterranean style. My husband loves their pretty wrought iron fence especially.

This turreted Queen Anne is one of my favorites; although I like the yellow colors, it's somewhat monochromatic and some of the really beautiful details are lost. You might notice the scaffolding on the side where the turret is. They have been working on re-painting the tower and turret for about 3 years now, so the scaffolding has been there for that long. I'm not sure what the delay is or why they haven't finished. I would also love to see some fabulous landscaping added to this!

Just across the street from the yellow Queen Anne, we see the main complex of Carroll College, the first and oldest chartered college in the state of Wisconsin. This academy actually originally started out in 1840 as the Prairieville Academy (Prairieville was the former name of my city), but it went bankrupt in 1844. Eventually, a charter for Carroll College was accepted by the Territorial Legislature in 1846. Much of the land the college occupies was donated by Morris Cutler, the first settler and founder of our city. Morris Culter also once owned the property which my house sits on.

This building is called Main Hall. Much of it was built between 1885-1887 after the original main hall building was destroyed by a fire. You might notice again that this building is built from locally quarried limestone. All the college's buildings (even newer ones that were built in the 1920s) are built of local quarried limestone and they are designed to look similar to the college's original buildings, so everything "matches" nicely.

Walking back towards my house, I always stop to look at this house's beautiful gardens. All the plants are labeled too!  They also have a number of decorative items always on display; like birdhouses and obelisks and tuteres. In spring it's all daffodils. Come summer, this will be a stunning display of blooming perennials.

This is my favorite house in the city. It's called the Chandler House and a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic design. The cupola on top usually has a Christmas tree in it! I love that they have a port- cochere on the left and the wrap-around porch continues alongside the right side of the house, with a beautiful little octagonal seating area. The house has 3 stories, a very large property that includes a carriage-house, and was built as a summer home in 1870 by a Milwaukee lumber baron. At one time it was operated as a museum, but is now a privately owned home. I would love to see some prettier landscaping here too; more flower gardens!!!

And here we are back at my house! This is looking up at the south side of the house, as I enter my side yard gate. Those are my bedroom windows. You may also notice the top part of a trellis in the picture. That is for my climbing pink rose which I am hoping will continue to grow right up the side of my house. Chances are good that it will; it was here when we bought the house and has obviously been established for many years. It's a vigorous grower and very thorny!

Thanks for joining me on my walking tour!