Hobbs Park Memorial

Exterior

East Facade

The front facade is comprised mostly of the brick hall and parlor with one corner of the stone addition visible from the street. The front of the house has a central door flanked symmetrically by tall windows. The limestone basement wall protrude approximately three feet above grade. There are no openings into the basement on this elevation. The quoins are fairly thin, more like slabs of stone stood on end than blocks of stone. The field of the wall is mainly rubble with a horizontal quality to it. There are areas where modern concrete has also been applied over deteriorated stone in some places and the manner suggests an amateur repair job. The condition of nearly all exterior masonry shows spalling in both the brick and stone, suggesting that the house was tuck-pointed at one time with a lime deficient mortar mix. The brick is solid, orange in color, fairly soft and no markings have been found on any. It may have been locally made, as a neighboring house, 901 Pennsylvania, is constructed of the same brick and is approximately the same era. There are very few klinker bricks found anywhere in the structure. They are roughly the same size as a modern common face brick (2x4x8) and appear to either be hand formed or hand pressed into a mold and have a water-struck type finish on them. The masonry coursing seems to be a variation on common bond with header rows every ninth or tenth course rather than the usual six.

The door and windows all have minimal wood sills. The headers are all segmented brick arches constructed with one course of soldier bricks and in-filled with a wood panel between the bottom of the arch and the top of the window or door frame. Both windows are single or double hung with a six over six pane arrangement. The door is not original to the house. It has one lite and panels of various sizes which adorn both above and below the lite. Nearly all of the windows and doors were removed and stored during April of 1999. Until April of 1999 there was a porch that nearly spanned the width of this facade. The roof of the house was extended over the gutter and out to cover the porch. The front edges were supported by piers made of a single stone and slabs of limestone were set on brick and rubble piers to create steps. There were remains of a simple, low railing. This porch may not have been the first though. There was a large wooden plank bolted into the masonry across the header of the door which may have been used to attach an earlier porch roof, but was not being used at the time of the porch demolition. The porch, porch roof and the gable roof for the hall and parlor section were demolished in April of 1999 for safety reasons. The porch roof had begun to topple the south half of the east exterior wall and the roof had large holes that were allowing waster to penetrate the walls. After the roof was removed the brick in this wall was rebuilt from the stone up between the door and the window on either side and across the top. There was no soffit, but the extended rafters were sheathed on the underside, and there was a frieze board to finish the top of the brick wall. The roof overhang was about one foot. The roof had several layers of asphalt shingles, but was not sheathed with modern sheathing. Under the shingles were one by boards with one to two inch gaps between them which ran perpendicular to the rafters.

Only about two feet of the stone addition pokes out from behind the brick portion. There are no openings in this face. The stone on the addition does begin to show better craftsmanship than the stone work on the foundation for the brick section of the house. There is a half-inch mortar joint visible from the ground-line all the way up to the roof.

Murphy-Bromelsick House Exterior
North Facade

The north elevation of the building is roughly divided in half between the brick hall and parlor and the stone addition. The stone addition wraps around the northeast corner of the brick hall and parlor section and obscures the corner completely. The site slopes down gradually along to the alley.

The brick hall and parlor sits on a limestone basement wall; the quoins are thin and the wall mainly rubble with a horizontality to it. The stone is fairly deteriorated and the mortar is disintegrating. There is some concrete patching similar to that on the east wall. And again there is evidence that mortar with insufficient lime was used to tuck point both the brick and limestone.

The brick wall is in severely deteriorated condition. The wall seems to have taken on much water over the years and some of the bricks will chip or turn to powder under the slightest touch. The gable end wall is very unstable and sways easily. There are two openings on this part of the facade. One in the basement wall of the hall and parlor section is left of the centerline of the gable. It has a wooden sill, now partially buried and rotting. The header for the window is a wooden lintel and the opening is somewhat out of square. The stones on either side of the jambs are no larger than those in the field. The window appears to be one sash of two over two (vertically oriented) single or double-hung window. It does not appear to be operable and while it does seem to be an old window, it is not consistent with the other windows and is probably not the original sash for the opening. There is one window in the brick portion of the wall and it is also left of the gable centerline, but does not align with the basement window. Like the windows on the east side of the house it has a wooden sill, in-filled brick arch header and a single hung, six over six window pane arrangement. However, unlike those on the east the brick arch is constructed of a double course of rowlock bricks rather than the single course of soldiers. Mortar has also been applied over much of the jambs of the window and beveled out to meet the face of the brick. The roof extended about a foot beyond the wall and the underside of the rafters were sheathed with 1x12 . There was a frieze board that concealed the top of the brick wall. The chimney for the hall and parlor section is centered on the ridge and is only visible above the roof line.

The quoins on the north face of the stone addition are still thin and not as blockish as one would expect, but they appear more substantial than those in the foundation of the hall and parlor section. They also still bear some evidence of finishing with an axe and chisel. The field of the wall is mainly rubble with a few larger stones here and there. This facade also has one, five-starred masonry tie fairly low on the facade, left of the centerline. The lower portion of the northwest corner of the addition is very badly deteriorated. It appears that a four to five foot high section of the north wall extended west toward the alley and to make some sort of enclosure. This conjecture is supported by the 1880 Bird's Eye View of Lawrence which shows a small gable roofed structure protruding from the rear of the stone addition. There are remains of this wall for about five or six feet clearly visible above grade. Personal accounts of the house from the early 1970s describe this structure as a sort of lean to supported by a post under the southwest corner of a flat roof. This extension of the north wall either deteriorated or was demolished at some point in the last thirty years and no provision for shoring up the northwest corner of the stone addition was made. Even with this highly deteriorated corner the addition appears stable and shows no signs of leaning or toppling. There were three windows in the stone portion of the facade, one was filled in at some point with limestone rubble. All but the lowest window have large quoin like stones at the window jambs unlike the limestone foundation of the brick section of the house.

The stone addition had one basement window roughly centered in the facade. The sill is below grade now, but the wooden lintel is still clearly visible, though somewhat rotten. The area including the infill shows quite a bit of wear so the window may have removed some time ago. Roughly stacked above that is another window. A single or double hung wooden window with six over six pane arrangement. This window is shorter than those in the brick section of the house. The header is a segmented arch built with fairly large, lightly worked stones. The arch is fairly flat like those in the brick portion and is infilled with wood between the bottom of the arch and the top of the window frame. The third window is roughly stacked on top the other two. This window has a wooden sill and lintel and six panes. It is unclear if this window is operable. The lintel is nearly at the top of the stone wall. The roof of the addition was also removed (except for the framing members) in April of 1999. The structure was similar to the hall and parlor portion in that the overhang was about a foot all the way around and the underside of the rafters were sheathed, but there was no soffit. The stone addition also had a frieze board to finish off the top of the stone wall, like the brick portion of the house. The brick chimney for the stone addition is visible only above the roof line. The main ridge of the stone additions roof runs east/west and intersects the gable of the brick section’s roof about a foot and a half below its ridge. Like the hall and parlor roof the addition's roof had several layers of asphalt shingles, but again the sheathing was not modern. It was mostly large planks, 1x12 or 1x10, arranged to run along the valleys at the cross gable and at the juncture with the hall and parlor gable, but then perpendicular to the rafters elsewhere. Upon removal of the sheathing from the stone addition’s roof an area of the hall and parlor roof became visible which had been covered up probably since about 1869. This covered area of the hall and parlor roof still had the original walnut shake shingle cladding.

Murphy-Bromelsick House Exterior
West Facade

The west (rear) facade of the house is in two different planes, the stone addition extending out toward the alley and the brick portion further back. The deterioration of the northwest corner of the stone addition, noted in the preceding paragraph is quite noticeable from this view as well. The brick wall is structurally compromised because of the condition of the foundation, however the bricks themselves are in better condition than on the other facades. This area of the house was covered by the frame addition until June of 1998.

The stone on this face is well weathered, but there is a band that traverses a substantial width of the building about five feet above grade, where the stone and mortar are more seriously eroded. Upon closer inspection there are bits of a black, tarry compound (probably a roofing sealer) that still adhere to the stone. This height roughly corresponds to the height of what was the extension of the northern wall of the stone addition indicating there was a roof in this area, probably the flat roof referred to in the previous section. The stone portion of the facade features two windows, both are to the right of the center line of the gable and are both outfitted with wooden sills, frames and lintels. The lower one is the smaller of the two and is filled with a six pane sash. This window is somewhat unusual in that it is placed fairly close to the southwest corner of the structure. The higher window nudges closer to the gable centerline. This window is a single hung with four panes in the upper sash. The lower sash is missing. The brick chimney of the stone addition is centered on the gable and is visible only above the roof line. The roof here is the same as the others, the underside of the rafters are sheathed, and a frieze board finishes off the masonry.

The brick portion sits back some twelve feet from the stone facade. The frame addition in front of the brick section along with its' native limestone foundation were demolished for safety considerations in 1998. This addition had a shed roof that was an extension of the gable roof of the brick hall and parlor, except where it met the stone addition. In this area a wall rose from the frame addition’s roof to meet an extension of the southern gable of the stone addition, forming what clearly read as an enclosure for a steep stair. The shed roof had no overhang. There were two small, square windows on this face of the frame addition and they were roughly symmetrically placed. They were smashed out and boarded over by 1997. There was a door to the far right into the basement level of the frame addition. A small shed roof covered the door and was attached to the wall just below the right window. Attached to the back of the frame addition, starting at the stone addition and extending south to the basement level door was a make-shift porch. This porch was constructed of all manner of wood, including remnants of telephone poles and railroad ties. There was a frame that probably supported a roof for the porch, but the roof and its rafters were gone. The lower level in the area of the frame addition was preserved during demolition and the removal of the rotten wood and foundation have revealed some aspects of the hall and parlor as well as the stone addition that would otherwise have not been evident.

Currently, there are four steps down to the lower level of the brick hall and parlor that were outside the demolished foundation wall. The area is paved with unusually large limestone flags, just as the front of the house is. The stone of the hall and parlor's foundation is mostly small rubble and is quite deteriorated and has been patched as it the other facades have. There is a door into the basement on the right end of the foundation wall and a single or double hung window to the far left. The wall for the stone addition butts into the hall and parlor foundation wall at the window jamb. There is a continuous masonry joint that runs all the way to the top of the wall here as there is on the north side of the house. There is a stone ledge directly under the window that appears to have been constructed as part of the stone addition. The door and window both are wooden with a wood lintel for a header. The headers are very near the junction of the stone and brick. The door frame in particular is wracked and gaps between the jambs and surrounding stone are quite visible. The door has five equal panels oriented horizontally. It is unclear if this door is original to the house or not. The window was a two over two, oriented vertically, and was stolen from the jamb before it could be removed for safe keeping in the winter of 2000. Compared to the six over six sash arrangement on the east and north windows this window, while old, probably is not original to the house. The top course of limestone foundation is seriously deteriorated and has compromised the brick above it. There are gaps in this course where the joists for the frame addition were seated, some directly on the lintels for both the door and window. The brick above the door is the most compromised and clearly pulling away. The brick coursing is similar to the rest of the house and there is only one opening, a door, which is situated directly above the window and directly adjacent to the stone additionÕs wall. The door has four panels oriented vertically. The two upper panels are longer than the lower two. The door may or may not have been original to the house. The door has wooden jambs and header, but no lintel or arched masonry opening like the other openings in the brick. Closer inspection revealed that the header for the opening was at least partially rebuilt. The exterior wythe of the sectional brick arch has been in-filled with modern common bricks, some turned so that their in-filled holes are discernible. The brick in this part of the house is in better condition than most, despite the structural problems with this wall, due to the fact that it was interior for a portion of its life. It has however been painted white (and perhaps pink underneath) except in areas where items, such as the lavatory, were mounted. There are mounting holes in the brick for the lavatory sink and other items. This eave seems to have been originally finished like the others on the house.

Murphy-Bromelsick House Exterior
South Facade

The south elevation of the house is roughly divided in half, with the stone addition some twelve feet further back than the southern wall of the brick hall and parlor portion. The frame addition and its porch obscured much of the stone addition's facade until it was demolished.

The frame addition had one small, rectangular window centered in the limestone foundation wall. The window was oriented horizontally and its head aligned with the top of the visible foundation wall. The frame was wood, but the sash was missing. There was also a small six over six, single or double hung, wood window on the main level. The left jamb roughly aligned with the center of the foundation wall. The masonry joint between the frame addition's foundation and the hall and parlor's foundation was clearly visible. The extension of the stone addition's west gable was visible above the shed roof of the frame addition. The main shed roof did not overhang the walls of the addition. But the roof over the stairs to the upper level of the stone addition did overhang its walls in much the same manner as the roofs for the other parts of the house do. Stairs led up to the rear porch from this facade. And a side view of the small covering for the basement level door was set about half way up the rear wall of the frame addition.

Now entirely visible, the stone addition has three doors on three different levels and a gable end for the cross gable roof. The stone is deteriorated in areas of this facade where it was exposed, as it is on the other two facades. However, the portion that was covered by the frame addition has a much different character to it than the rest. Though it has been painted its texture is readily discernible. The joints seem to have been somewhat more like a bead joint than a raked joint and the stones reveal a fairly high degree of finish. The coursing, while random, does not have the rubble quality that the rest of the stone now has. This may indicate that the exposed stone was tuck-pointed with a mortar that did not have enough lime in the mix and has subsequently spalled the limestone obscuring the original character of the exterior walls. The bottom of the lowest opening on this facade is roughly two feet lower than the basement level of the brick hall and parlor and the limestone paved area that was once enclosed by the frame addition's basement. There is evidence that stone steps once led to the stone addition's lowest level, but little of them remains. This opening is capped with a heavy wooden lintel and is on the right side of the gable centerline. There does not seem to have been a door in this opening, no evidence of a jamb or any hinge attachment has been found. The door to the main level has a wood frame and sill and has been raised about two and a half feet from its original height. There is approximately a foot of wood infill under the sill and directly under the wood fill is a section of stone fill about another foot and a half tall. Below this infill is a large patch of concrete. The door opening does not have the typical segmental arch or wood lintel, instead it is just the door frame. This opening is unusually close to the corner of the structure. Along the left side jamb about a foot and a half below the head is a cut off joist. There is a patch of concrete in this area on the right side of the door so it is uncertain if there is a matching joist in this location. The head of this door is deteriorated, probably due to the lack of a lintel. The door itself is a four panel door with the panels oriented vertically. The two upper panels are longer the lower two and the door knob is brown glass. The door may or may not be original. The third door on this facade is centered under the gable and is very close to the top of the wall. In fact the lintel completely divides the stone above and below it. This door is shorter than the others and has a wood frame, sill and lintel. The door itself, is missing. There are three cut off joists directly under the door. The other end of the masonry tie is visible on this side above the lowest doorway and is secured with a large block of wood rather that the decorative five star plate.

The hall and parlor portion of the house has the same limestone foundation as noted on other facades. This side is also deteriorated, but not patched to the extent that the east and north have been. There is one basement level window to the right of the gable centerline. It is wood, with a wood lintel and sill, which is now partly beneath grade. The window appears to be one sash of a two over two oriented vertically and does not appear operable. Like the basement window on the north the sash appears old, but is not consistent with the six pane arrangements of the other sashes and is probably not original to the house. The brick on this wall is in somewhat better condition that the north and east walls, but not as good as the west wall. The coursing is the same variation on common bond and there is only one opening, a window left of the gable centerline. The window is a single or double hung wood window with a wood frame and sill. A segmental arched header is formed of a single course of soldier bricks. The panes are a two over two vertically oriented sash arrangement and may not be original, although it is an older style window. The roof was finished as on the other gable end wall of the house. The brick chimney was visible above the roof line. However the south gable and its chimney were substantially dismantled when the roof was removed in April of 1999.

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