The Marquette Bungalows Historic District is part of a neighborhood developed from 1924 to 1930 on the isthmus of Madison, Wisconsin, United States, holding the largest group of Craftsman-style bungalows in the city. In 1997 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
"This district contains two blocks of bungalow-style homes in the Marquette neighborhood and is roughly bounded from Spaight St. to Rutledge St. and S. Dickinson St. to S. Thornton Ave. These bungalows sprouted up between 1924 and 1930 sharing similar shapes and sizes, although each home has certain details and features that make them unique. The size of these homes are not very large, but the quality of details and construction were superb. Many of these homes have wood flooring, fine woodworking throughout, built-in cabinets, and leaded glass windows. The Madison Landmarks Commission declared the Marquette Bungalows a historical district in 1993."
The land that would become the Marquette Bungalows district was part of the 1836 plat of the Village of Madison, but it was far from the capitol square where most early development occurred, and it was marshy, lying along the Yahara River. No house was built there for fifty years, until George Soelch and James Rhodes moved a house to 629 South Dickinson from another location in 1887. It still stands there.
By the 1890s, blocks nearby were filling in with houses, but this still-marshy area did not. When the Yahara River Parkway was created just to the east from 1903 to 1906, the river was straightened and the area became easier to drain. Finally in 1924, the owners of the land, Charles Mueller and Catharina and John Jepertinger, formed a company with carpenter and contractor Nicholas Karrels to develop the land. The company was called Karrels Realty and Building Development Company. They replatted the two blocks as Soelch's Subdivision and Karrels proceeded to build homes there. In 1930 the last lot was filled.
Nearly all the homes constructed by Karrels were structurally bungalows. That term can mean many things, but in this neighborhood in the 1920s bungalow meant a 1.5-story modest home, with most living space downstairs in a rather open plan, and some living space upstairs within a low-pitched roof expanded by dormers, and often with a large porch to one side out front. This layout was seen as convenient and efficient. 45 of the 47 contributing properties in the district today are bungalows.
All the homes constructed by Karrels were trimmed in Craftsman style. That style was popular for middle-class homes across the U.S. from about 1905 to 1930. Hallmarks are exposed rafter tails, broad eaves often supported on the ends by knee braces, and large porches supported by tapered square columns. Craftsman style was developed by the Greene brothers in California, influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement. It was seen as a modern style at the time, not copying old European architecture like the Italianate and Queen Anne styles that preceded it.
The district was declared a historic district by the Madison Landmarks Commission in 1993 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places April 14, 1997.