The Postillion - The Great House

A House History

The Postillion house has a fascinating history which stretches back many years. In the late 1800's and beginning 1900's, Davenport's prestigious Gold Coast, also known as Hamburg, was comprised of many elegant homes located on a series of bluffs overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. Local aristocrats lived here. This fine home was one of them. It was built circa 1890 on land originally owned by Gilbert C.P. Mitchell. History of this property is itself rather unique. It is one of the few land areas in Davenport that wasn't at some time owned by Antoine LeClaire.

The mansion was designed by Gustav Adolph Hanssen who also designed several other Gold Coast homes, and the grand rectory at Sacred Heart Cathedral. (hanssen was a son of Louis Hanssen and he worked as a clerk in Louis' hardware store at the time he designed the Wiese estate.) It was the family residence of one of the early Wiese families.

The Wieses were of sturdy European stock and came from around Holstein, Germany in the mid-1800's to the Quad Cities area. Active in many community and cultural developments, the Wieses founded a thriving business in 1880 on 4th Street in the building directly to the west of our current Chamber of Commerce. It was called The Eagle Steam Bakery and was a division of the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Co. Moving to a new location in 1896, Eagle Steam Bakery apparently sold out to A.J. Carstensen in 1897.

The last living Wiese resident at 709 Brown Street was Norma M. Wiese who died in November of 1958. According to local historical materials, there were apparently 9 Wieses altogether who resided here from 1870 to 1958. (It is likely that another home preceded this Villa on the same location because records show Claus and Anna living here as early as 1869). These 9 include: Claus, Anna, William Henry, Minnie, Edna, Henry, William, and Norma. There are now no living members of that Wiese family. The last member was Edna M., Norma's sister, who died in 1969. The family burial plot is located in Fairmount Cemetary in Davenport.

Sometime in the 1880's, Wm. Wiese decided to build his grand home on Brown Street. It is not clear if the original home was still standing or not. This is a mystery yet to be solved. G.A. Hanssen, the architect of 709 Brown, went on to design many of Davenport's finest homes after his graduation from the architectural department of Illinois State University. Circa 1800 the home was completed, but its progress did not stop there. As the Wiese family grew and prospered, additions and modifications were made to meet their needs. Stories are told of grand parties held on the front lawn as distinguished guests were entertained by professional musicians. Water gently cascaded down a series of sunken ponds off the southeast corner of the house. These ponds still exist.

Sometime during the early 1900's, a fire struck the Villa and inflicted a heavy toll of damage. Extensive repairs were soon underway, but some of the original building was never restored. Around 1930, a new garage was built and the original one was moved and donated to the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds (the building is still there at the East end of the Grandstand).

A handy elevator was installed towards the north end of the house for Norma's invalid mother (Minnie). It still faithfully services all four floors. The splendid mural you will see spanning the upper den walls was handpainted by an artist named Horne. You can almost hear Norma's rather shrill, unmistakable voice emanating from a tower window as she calls for Mr. Geiger who is busy trimming velvet-like grass around the quaint wooden gazebo. Mr. Geiger was the family gardener for many years and kept the lawn, flowers, shrubs, and grounds immaculate. Overlooking all this are two elevated spacious patios (one screened, and the other open) perched atop the 3-car garage.

Since Norma's death in November of 1958, several owners have had the rich experience of living in the atmosphere of fine architecture and tradition. This Villa is still very much alive with the heritage of the Wiese Family.

Welcome to our home today and to its fine heritage.