The Frank Hearne and Alfred Lamb Houses, Hannibal, MO

Frank P. Hearne House, Hannibal, MO. 1871 Photo: Mike Steele

Alfred Lamb House, Hannibal, MO. 1859 Photo: Mike Steele

Sitting across from each other on Bird Street in Hannibal, are two impressive Italianates, the Hearne and Lamb houses. The Frank P. Hearne house, above, was built in 1871 for a lumber merchant. The house has a plain side hall facade facing 6th St. but this view of the side shows its impressive irregular plan side facade on Bird St., a duality that gives it a rather schizophrenic quality. I prefer this facade. One can see the completely towerless irregular form and the longer left-hand facade which brings the house out to 6th St. The simple brick facade is pierced with segmental arched windows that have pedimented stone label moldings above, creating a nice interplay between rounded and angular forms. The cornice has smart-looking and frequent paired small brackets on a subdued entablature board that give it a sophisticated air.

This lower house was built by Alfred Lamb a railroad president in 1859. Since this photo, the house has been beautifully restored by expert restoration craftsmen and is now the Belvedere Inn. It follows the five bay plan with a hip roof. The segmental arched windows on the second floor are topped with especially fancy cast iron rococo hood moldings. The porches have been restored with all their splendor. What catches my eye especially on this house though is its massive cupola, perhaps the largest cupola I have posted on this blog. The cupola is rectangular, rather than square as expected, and each bay of the cupola has two arched windows with eared surroundings and dentils. The sides are twice as long as the front. I'd imagine that given its size, it must produce a sizeable interior space that has more functionality than the typical cupola.

The Jesse H. McVeigh House, Hannibal, MO

The Jesse McVeigh House, Hannibal, MO. 1885 Photo: Brandon Bartoszek

Photo: Amanda Baird/BlackDoll Photography

The Jesse McVeigh house, built in 1885 for a member of one of the major families of Hannibal, is one of the most photographed homes in town, certainly due to its beautiful state of preservation, eye catching features, and attractive paint scheme, even if the painting is a little inaccurate for the period. The house follows the rotated side tower plan (of course this example is towerless, though the side tower mass is expressed by the right hand bay), which in essence is an irregular plan with the short side facade facing the street as the principal expression of the house. The home has a typical steep hip roof that nearly every Hannibal house has and is enlivened by beautiful detailing. The segmental arched windows have elaborate label hood moldings with fanciful, impossibly un-classical brackets, thick keystones, and Eastlake incised designs. A bay window on the front continues the general design. The cornice has a simple architrave molding with small entablature windows, a run of dentils, and elaborate s scroll brackets. Perhaps most impressive, though, is the abundance of porches, with elaborate paneled post supports that form shouldered arches. On the right, the porch has two stories (though the upper porch might be slightly later), while on the left, the porch gracefully curves out and projects an entire bay from the facade, a very uncommon feature, as side porches usually are far more closely attached to the facade. This is perhaps an influence of the porch mania and inventiveness of contemporary Queen Anne design that gives unlimited scope for non-traditional porch possibilities. It does create an awkward join between porch and facade, but nonetheless creates a beautiful open space around the entrance.

The plan must have been popular. It seems that John Mounce beat the McVeighs in introducing this plan in his house at 207 N Maple in 1880. The Mounce house is basically identical (without the second story porch addition) although the second story windows are joined rather than separated as in the McVeigh house.

Mounce House, 1880 Photo: Mike Steele

Photo: Amanda Baird/BlackDoll Photography

The Edward M. Holmes House, Hannibal, MO

The Edward M. Holmes House, Hannibal, MO. 1885
Photo: Amanda Baird/BlackDoll Photography

The Edward M. Holmes house was clearly very impressive, but is currently in need of some TLC for sure. The house was built in 1885 for Edward Holmes, a cigar manufacturer, and went through a succession of owners. On a corner lot, the house presents two finished facades. The front has a typical side hall design of three bays, while the side facade has a strong projecting central pavilion, gabled, with a two story bay window. The side originally had two porches with tent roofs, but one has been filled in while the other after this photo was demolished and replaced by a mudroom (unfortunately). The front of the house features the most elaborate features, with cast iron window hood moldings with bulls eyes. The thick cornice has several layers of moldings with a thick run of smaller brackets and an odd number of long brackets. Long brackets usually divide bays, so there should be four pairs, but this facade has only three. Finally, the most impressive feature is the intact bracket surround around the front door with an overly thick molding, tent roof, and one massive c scroll bracket that runs the height of the door, which seems to feature large expanses of glass. Throughout are Eastlake incised carvings. I think this house suffers most from a sorely needed coat of paint; a little restoration and it would look fantastic.

The William Ebert House, Hannibal, MO

The William Ebert House, Hannibal, MO. 1865 Photo: Brandon Bartoszek

The William Ebert house at 1000 Center St. in Hannibal, MO was built in 1865 for a newspaper owner. Having gone through many owners, by the late 20th century, most of the house's exterior features, its porches, balconies, and metalwork had disappeared, but it was recently restored through older images authentically. The house follow the irregular plan, but lacks a central tower as well as a strong central projection where the tower would be. Like many of the houses in Hannibal and especially in the midwest, the house has a steeper pitch to the hip roof than is often found. This makes the house look like a series of retreating steps. The plain brick facade has arched windows with stone insets that have a shouldered arch shape and incised Eastlake carving. The cornice has small brackets with large c scroll brackets at the corner; these actually take the form of distorted Doric trigylphs complete with guttae (small circular drops). Interiors can be seen here.

The John L. Robards House, Hannibal, MO

The John Robards House, Hannibal, MO. 1871 Photo: Brandon Bartoszek

The John Robards house built in 1871 for a friend of Mark Twain who was an important lawyer in Hannibal. I think it's one of the most impressive looking houses in town, with its original iron fence and its details intact. The house is a five bay plan building with a hip roof and a cupola, which interestingly is very tall as well as has two bays of tombstone windows. In plan, it's very similar to the Brown house featured earlier. The brick facade of the house has stone quoins at the corners, and the windows are segmental arched with simple hood moldings. There are tombstone windows in the central bay, giving it emphasis, something also emphasized by the porch's span of only the center three bays. In general, the outer bays, the porched three central bays, and the emphatic central bay in line with the cupola create a really pleasing balance of shapes and emphases. The impressive porch with its simple posts has open arches spanning the rectangular openings with pierced jigsaw work in the spandrels, again, like the Brown house. The cornice is paneled, with s scroll brackets defining the bays and smaller brackets in between. The house is now a bed and breakfast and interiors can be seen here.

Photo: Mike Steele

The J. B. Brown House, Hannibal, MO

The J. B. Brown House, Hannibal, MO. 1870 Photo: Brandon Bartoszek

Photo: Amanda Baird/BlackDoll Photography

The J. B. Brown house in Hannibal, MO, which is where we are travelling in the next several posts, is a fine example of a mid-western vernacular blend of Greek Revival forms and Italianate detail. Hannibal is the town of Mark Twain and was a major manufacturing center for cement. The house was built rather late to be as simple as it seems and looks more to be a product of 1850 than 1870. It follows the five bay plan with a hip roof and beautiful cupola with arched tombstone windows, paired brackets, pilasters, and a fine finial. The body of the house is brick with simple window surrounds, only ornamented with severe stone blocks. The house doesn't even have strong brackets. Yet its two details that make this an exceptional home. First is the central window and door on the façade. These consist of fluted pilasters with long brackets supporting a hood molding with small brackets. The central door has two arched side lights, an Italianate version of a Federal form. The porch is the second outstanding feature with its shouldered arches that have exquisite pierced cut outs in the spandrels. Above is a frieze of semicircles. The balustrade above is a lattice work of circles, a particularly neat design. This house works because the simplicity of the façade allows the porch and central windows center the composition and don't have to compete with other ornamentation. Note the original iron fence, miraculously preserved, and the paint scheme; it strikes me as very historically appropriate.