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This lovely home was built, along with two others, by J.L. Cochran in 1898 and was featured in a booklet published by Cochran in 1899. That booklet titled “A Home by the Lake” refers to a style of home that is “elegant without ostentation.” Since Cochran took out the building permit we do not have the name of the architect, but the builders were Carlsen and Nelson. The style of the home is Queen Anne, but it exhibits a more simplified version of Queen Anne that may be an indication that as the Century turned tastes were changing. The façade shows a hip roof with a front dormer at the attic with a unique design. The shingles in the upper stories are replacements - the roof would have originally been shingled. There is a wide bay window surrounded by a full width front porch. The front door is to the left side. The sister home across the street has the front door on the right side, since that it was quite common to just flip the plan over and construct the same house. The columns are simplified with only a triangle design where a capital might have been. The porch is in a simplified design with straight stick balusters. On the lower level of the porch are circular framed windows, the type of detail which would be rare in modern houses.

As you enter the home, you must pass through a small hallway which serves as an air lock to protect the home from heat loss during the winter. Once inside you will see two parlors. The floors are a beautiful golden oak. Although the woodwork is painted white, the doors in the room are five paneled in natural oak. The front parlor to the right is as wide as the home. The central parlor to the left serves many functions including the central access point to the staircase to the second floor. The beautiful staircase has a large and heavy banister and turned wood spindles. From this central room you can see the dining room with built in oak buffet and china cabinet. The dining room also has a bay window facing south. From the dining room there is a back hallway to the kitchen, which has been remodeled with maple flooring and maple cabinets. At the end of the kitchen is a cozy eating area and doorway opening onto a deck.

Back at the staircase you may ascend to the second floor. Natural light flows over the space from a leaded glass window which consists of four square panels and then one arched panel above. From the landing of the second floor you can take a longer look at the window. The floor plan of the second floor includes a bedroom over the front parlor with an adjacent sitting room or nursery. There is another bedroom on the second floor as well as a bathroom. These will not be open.

To reach the third floor, walk towards the back of the house and find the continuation of the back staircase going up. On the third floor you will see a beautiful adaptation of the space with a wonderful office nook, a luxurious bath and a bedroom/TV-room. As you descend the staircase, notice the beautiful hand-rail with turned spindles.