May 13, 2009

 For Immediate Release          

Restored 1876 Davenport Home Receives 2009 “Preservation at Its Best” Award

Gateway Redevelopment Group honored by the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance

 (Ottumwa, Iowa)

            A single family home at 822 Gaines Street, Davenport, has won the 2009 Preservation at its Best-Residential award.  The award was announced Tuesday, May 13^th at the 2009 Preservation in Progress conference in Ottumwa. The award is sponsored by the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance (IHPA), one of the conference sponsors.

            The 1876 Frank and John Bredow home in Davenport’s Hamburg Historic District was restored by Gateway Redevelopment Group (GRG) from 2006 to 2008. Prior to restoration, the home had been abandoned and boarded for over 20 years; in 2005, it topped Davenport’s demolition list.

            Gateway Redevelopment Group is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is saving abandoned buildings in the Hamburg Historic District/Gold Coast neighborhood.

            The Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance is a private not for profit organization supporting historic preservation advocacy, partnerships and education.

822 Gaines required extensive external and internal rehabilitation. Its interior was entirely gutted prior to 2005, and was restored using salvaged architectural items from various structures being torn down or renovated in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas.

Support came from Davenport’s HAPPEN program, the Scott County Housing Council, Iowa Historic Tax Credits, the Quad City Builders Association, loans from individual supporters and professional contractors who agreed to be paid once the project was completed and the building was sold. In addition, volunteers contributed more than 3000 hours of free labor to complete the home. In August 2008, the home was sold as a single family residence.

Information about Gateway Redevelopment Group’s projects, including a complete photographic record of 822 Gaines, is available at its website www.grgdavenport.org, or by contacting GRG President, Jack Haberman at 563-326-3290 or ars@grgdavenport.org.

Membership in the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance is open to anyone interested in support preservation efforts throughout the state. More information is available at the IHPA website, www.iowapreservation.org, or by contacting President Rod Scott (641-373-1171), or by emailing him at rod.scott@mchsi.com.

History of the Home

The Frank & John Bredow House

Elements of Greek and Gothic Revival

Ca. 1876

 Two generations of Bredows lived in the house at 822 Gaines Street for about 44 years.

The Bredow family, like many early Davenport residents, traces its ancestry to Schleswig Holstein. John T. and Anna Bredow were born there in 1825.  Their eldest son, John F. was born there in 1853 and emigrated with his parents to Kiel, Wisconsin shortly afterwards. There, two more sons, Frank and Gerhard, were born. The family moved to Davenport in 1870 where John T. operated a saloon.  He built the family home at 822 Gaines about 1876 for his wife and sons, then young men.

In 1883, John F. married Bertha Krieger. Their daughter Rhoda was born in 1884. The other sons married and moved else where in the city; John, Bertha and Rhoda continued to share the house with his parents at 822 Gaines.

John worked for the German Savings Bank, becoming Assistant Cashier. After 25 years, he left the banking business to become, first, President of the Iowa Mantle Manufacturing Company and later President of the Hydraulic Concrete Construction Company.

The senior Bredows died about 1896.  The John F. Bredows continued to occupy the house until about 1920 when they moved to West 4^th Street.

Little is known about the home after the Bredows left. At some point, it was divided into apartments. A St. Ambrose alum recalls that in 1960 he rented the home with ten other students.  The home was nicknamed “The Haunted House” although there were never, to his recollection, any ghostly manifestations.

VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE

GRG is indebted to the following government entities, funders, contractors and volunteers for their assistance in restoration of 822 Gaines:

Bernice Orr