St. Francis House

 missionary order  Add category

4-story Renaissance-revival mission house completed in 1909 for the Franciscan Fathers. Designed by Thomas J. Duff, Its octagonal corner tower somewhat mirrors that of the St. Francis School on the opposite side of the church. St. Francis House is five bays wide, with a raised basement level of rough-faced stone that is broken in the center by a sweeping staircase leading to the recessed main entrance. The eastern bay has a set of steps leading down to a basement service door.

The rest of the facade is clad in buff-colored brick; the eastern bay is set further back, and the western bay consists of the corner turret. The 1st floor has round-arched in each bay, larger in the center around the entry; the arches all have stone architraves. The turret has windows in the facets facing south, southwest, west, and northwest. Above a stone cornice, the 2nd floor has segmental-arched windows, and the 3rd floor has square-headed windows. The three center bays are topped by stone round-arched enclosing crosses. At the top of the 3rd floor, the recessed east bay, and the corner turret are capped by black metal cornices; the turret has a shallow sloping slate roof coming to a point marked by a copper finial. The three middle bays continue up further to a group of three small round-arches and a gabled roof line; it has a stone coping with a cross at the peak, and surmounts a carved stone oculus with a cross and a stone band reading "FRANCISCAN FATHERS".

The west wall of the building has two bays of windows (following the window pattern set in the middle bays of the front facade), framed between two brick piers that extend far above the roof line into twin chimneys. Between them is another gable with a cross, and a smaller oculus.

The building now contains the St. Francis Counseling Center and other offices.