1630 Morrill Street / John and Mary Dunnebacke
The residence at 1630 Morrill Street, known as the Dunnebacke House, is a one-story, wood frame bungalow that was constructed c. 1919. Note: the street address was 202 Morrill prior to 1953.
It features drop exterior siding and a front-facing gable main roof. The house stands on a concrete pier foundation and has fixed sash replacement windows. The one-story, full-width front porch has a hipped roof and brick steps with flanking brick knee walls. The porch is bounded by a balustrade wall constructed of drop siding and has been enclosed with plate glass window panels to preserve its “open” appearance. The former residence has a brick chimney and a one-story, shed roof addition on its west elevation.
The house exhibits one of the classic bungalow facades, with the front-facing gable of the nearly full-width porch being slightly lower than the gable of the main section of the house immediately behind the porch. The porch retains its tapered columns, brick piers, and its balustrade wall. This bungalow has the typical exposed rafter tails of the type.
The structure was relocated to its present site in 1944, from an orange grove near Bradenton.
In 1926, John J. Dunnebacke and his wife, Mary, purchased a large parcel of property in Rhodes and Hale Subdivision that included the subject site. The Dunnebackes were from Kenosh, Wisconsin. Mr. Dunneback was said to be an “entrepreneur” who also purchased and maintained several residential investment properties in the Sarasota area. Mr. and Mrs. Dunnebacke themselves resided in a home on Rawls Avenue.
The Dunnebackes were charter members of St. Martha’s parish when it officially came into existence on October 1, 1927. In 1940, Mr. Dunnebacke contributed financially to the building fund for the construction of a new church building for St. Martha’a. Mary Dunnebacke died in July, 1937 and was followed in death by her husband in April of 1943.
Mr. Dunnebacke’s brother, Anthony, purchased John’s land holdings and permanently moved to Sarasota in 1944, after visiting during earlier years. He had the house relocated to Morrill Street from an orange grove near Bradenton that had formerly been owned by a doctor.