202 High St

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Overview

15

Owner

Carl and Olga (Soreide) Selland

Address

202 High St Decorah IA 52101

Year Built

1932

Architectural Style

Minimal Traditional Cape Cod

Tour Type

West Decorah Tour

A May 7, 1936 Decorah Journal article notes that carpenters under the supervision of Albert Hendrickson have begun work on the Carl Selland house in West Decorah just off of (old) Highway 52. Altfillisch’s project books show that this was one of his designs. This is a very modest-sized home, in a 1935-1950 style that architectural historian Virginia Savage McAlester has labeled “Minimal Traditional.” These were low-cost houses with simple, compact massing, modest front entrances, and minimal ornamentation. Given its basic shape, it could also be called “Cape Cod” style, although it lacks the dormers often included in Cape Cod revival houses.

The Carl Selland Park on the corner of College Drive and Fifth Avenue was named after Carl after his sudden death on Nov. 21, 1958, at the age of 61. The land was the site for the city’s primary water pumping station. After the pumping station was moved, the city decided, in 1958, to repurpose the land as a city park named after Carl because of his 35 year career with the Decorah Water and Sewer Department, in which capacity he must have regularly interacted with Altfillisch. Carl’s brother, C. R. Selland, was the Winneshiek County Clerk of Court.

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