remarkable prairie style odin j. oyen limestone facade three story commercial building - la crosse, wisconsin
the odin j. oyen building was built in 1912. although the building is/was not in any danger of demolition, it did receive the infamous 1960's makeover. i've chosen to include this building because it was my first salvage (more later) and during graduate school, the first building i nominated for landmark status (a tedious process). put another way, it got the proverbial ball rolling in regards to my career as a professional junker. on a more serious note, the story begins with the "remuddling" of the facade... the lower region of the facade was covered with aluminum during the 1960's. when the rehab took place, i removed this "upgrade" only to discover the name "odin j. oyen" incised in stone. the goldleaf inlay was still intact within the lettering! when the false ceiling was brought down, we discovered an ornate tin ceiling. during a wall removal, we discovered a hidden skylight (running from the roof to the first floor) that had been sealed off for decades. the basement contained the original entrance doors (i verified this through old photographs and the style or make of the door hardware). the third floor had been closed off since the 1930's, when oyen's well-respected and prominent midwestern interior design and decoration firm went out of business. we came across thousands of "old new stock" wallpaper rolls, unfinished murals and row upon row of decorative gilded finish wood picture frames. that was just the beginning! the rest of the story is just so sad... more to come in the near future. Inventory number: UR-630-06
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