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August & Karin Booren House

 

August Booren was a man of ambition. Born in Sweden in 1850, he came to Stillwater in 1866, as a young man of 16. By the time he was 27, he had his own hotel, the St. Croix Hotel at 223 Chestnut, which he advertised as "pleasant and well furnished rooms, good tables, try it once and you will come again--good stabling in connection with the house."

In 1881, August and his wife of seven years, Karin, purchased Lots 8 & 9, Block 1 of Wilson’s Addition, and built a home that remains today at 322 West Olive Street. Apparently he was not satisfied with his new home, for three years later, in May of 1884, he purchased Lot 7 from John O’Brien, his neighbor on the east side, and built another larger house at 318 West Olive Street. The tax assessor, making his rounds in 1884, estimated the value of August’s new house at 318 West Olive Street at $3,400, and his previous house at 322 West Olive Street at a value of $1,600.

While living here, August was elected to two terms in the state legislature, and later he was elected to six years as the county treasurer. Meanwhile he continued to operate his hotel and saloon, which was subsequently named the Central Hotel.

His house has remained largely unchanged since he died in 1926. Its design and profile are unique in Stillwater. The Mansard roof with the elaborate hoods over the second story windows suggest the French Second Empire Style, inspired by the reign of Napoleon III, French Emperor 1852-1870. But the lower portion of the house has many details of the Italianate style. The present owner chooses to call it Eastlake Italianate style. But however the house is characterized; it is a striking example of mid-1880s architecture.

Source(s): Information complied by Donald Empson, Empson Archives on 1/23/2009. Sources: The building date and value is from the original annual tax assessors’ rolls, 1882-1886 (on microfilm in the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library. The footprint of the house is drawn on the 1904-1924 Sanborn Insurance maps. The 1900 U.S. Census lists the Booren family (and servant) occupying the house. There is one City of Stillwater application for a building permit, #1885, on file for a reshingling of the house. Booren’s obituary is in the Stillwater Daily Gazette, June 11, 1926. Paul Larson, an architectural historian, wrote about the house in an unpublished manuscript, 1976.

Washington County Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 2803020420132

Common Property Name: August & Karin Booren House

Neighborhood: South Hill

State Historic Preservation Office Inventory Number: WA-SWC-152

Construction Date: 1884

Builder:

Architect:

Architectural Style: Unknown