Village Housing: 140 Elm Street

Date

1873-2020

Location

140 Elm Street

Architects/Collaborators

Builder unknown

Style

Italianate

History

This house was built in 1873 for William B. Durand, an insurance agent with a long career as town clerk. The Durand family lived here for 70 years. The grandson of the original owner, also named William B. Durand, an architect, divided the 28 rooms into apartments with the assistance of his sister in the early 1940s. This house is significant as one of Oberlin's most distinguished examples of Italianate Style architecture. Durand House, as it was known until recently, was listed by the City of Oberlin as an Oberlin Historic Landmark in January of 1999. The house was one of the College's properties in its Village Housing program for students. It was demolished in 2020.

Sources

Geoffrey Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture, College and Town: A Guide to Its Social History (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1985.

Ohio Historic Inventory by M. Fedelchak-Harley, L. Previll, and J. Heaton, Ohio State Historic Preservation Office, August 15, 1999. Accessed from the Oberlin Heritage Center website, June 23, 2015.