Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District

611 S Main St

Ernest Wilton House, Ca. 1900

BrickContributes to the historic character of the district

1900
18001850190019502000

From the National Register nomination

Queen Anne two-story house of stretcher-bond dark red/brown brick with penciled mortar joints. The asphalt-shingled hip-and-gable roof has kicked eaves, and its gables have false wood and stucco half-timbering (as do the gables of the gabled dormers). The one-story front porch has classical columns on a solid railing with sawtooth wood shingle sheathing. A curved projection of the porch aligned with the front entry has a conical roof and concentric concrete steps. The entry has decorative glass in the sidelights and basket-handle-arch fanlight, and its door has what may be the original screen door with dentil-like carving and decorative mesh and metal reinforcement patterns. On the north side elevation are a small one-story frame bay window with paneled surrounds and a two-story brick bay window. Most windows are 1/1 and have gauged jack arches. To the rear are a one-story wing with novelty vinyl siding and weatherboard siding on the basement level, and a second-story porch. Other features include a limestone foundation, an interior brick chimney, decorative rafter ends, and some decorative windows. (Hering and Wilson Sanborn map index)

Also on the lot

  • Garage, Early 20th c.

    One-story frame garage with vertical beaded tongue-and-groove siding and a metal-sheathed shed roof. The garage has a single bay to W. Grattan St. with vertical tongue-and-groove walls, and it stands on a cinder block foundation. It is possible the building once served as a chicken house. Extending along W. Grattan St. from the garage toward the corner with S. Main St. is a retaining wall formed of large jagged limestone blocks.