1025 Garden St.

Milton & Carrie Longacre House

1887, Free Classic Queen Anne

2800 sq ft

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This house is a notable example of Free Classic Queen Anne style architecture. Popular from the late 1880s to about 1910, the Free Classic variant style is characterized by the application of classical ornamentation to the asymmetrical Queen Anne house form. On this house, the hipped roof, cross-gables, square tower, bay windows, and wraparound porch are elements associated with the Queen Anne style. The Free Classical details may be seen in the bands of dentil molding accenting the cornices and the tower plus the classical Tuscan columns supporting the porch roofs.

Milton and Carrie Longacre purchased this lot in 1887. Milton was born in Chester, PA in 1851 and moved to Fort Wayne in 1872 to work for the Pennsylvania Company. He and Carrie were married in 1880, and they had 4 children. Milton died at the age of 43, and Carrie continued to live in the home until 1903 when she moved to Lafayette. The address was originally 29 Garden St. In 1902, Fort Wayne changed the numbering system and it became 1025 Garden St.

The house has gone through numerous renovations beginning as early as 1903. Purchased in 2017 by Greg and Cindy Brandt, the home has been completely renovated. While most of the historical woodwork had been removed, the front 20% still had most of the original casework on both the first and second floors. The house was on the WCNA Home Tour in 2018. The summers of 2019 and 2020 saw the retaining wall, raised landscaping, walkways and deck added. Work continues to bring this home back to and beyond its original splendor.

Next, carefully cross Jefferson and continue down Garden to the final home.