August Derleth House

The architect of the house was Leo Julius Weissenborn, born in Sauk City in 1877, the grandchild of Julius Weissenborn and Emma Cunradi, who came from Saxony in 1848. They were among the German liberals, called '48ers, who gave Sauk City its unique character. The house was built by Derleth's father and other local craftsmen using stone quarried nearby.

The house is T-shaped, with gabled roofs on both sections. Both in its overall appearance and functionally, the house is reminiscent of many farmhouses in the area, although more sophisticated in plan and larger than most. It is made of dolomite, a sedimentary rock similar to limestone but golden in color, laid up in load-bearing walls over ten inches thick. Unlike many local stone dwellings of the same period, the stones are laid up edge-faced, that is, in the same plane as they lay in the quarry. The size of the stones and their finish recalls nineteenth-century stonework seen in the area. The early masonry is also recalled by the large blocks, or quoins, that form the corners.

Location

Place of Hawks
S1043 Lueders Road
Sauk City , WI 53583