Jenne House

The Jenne House exemplifies a residential variant of the “Queen Anne” architectural style. This style was a loosely-defined set of design precepts governing, primarily, the use of ornamentation. In general, an excess of ornament, and a variety of such, are the style’s hallmarks. Thus, in the Jenne House, we see a profuse variety of window styles and treatments, including several fine specimens of stained glass; extravagantly ornate wood trim along the roof gables; elaborate woodwork incorporated within the wraparound porch; and—another stylistic hallmark—a series of complex, steeply-pitched roof lines. All of this is intended to evoke a distant, “romantic” past, distinctly at odds with the sleek lines of the “modern.” In the case of the dramatic Jenne House, this intention is fully realized.

Although the style today seems more antiquated than even its proponents perhaps intended, to Jacob and Anna Jenne, who passed the first part of their married lives living in a sheep wagon, their Queen Anne home must have seemed the height of modernity (not to mention spaciousness—with 20 rooms on four levels). Jacob Jenne was, however, no stranger to sheep wagons: Born in Illinois and raised in Missouri, he came to Wyoming in 1891, to partner with his brother, John Morton, in the sheep ranching business. The Morton-Jenne Sheep Company thrived over the ensuing decades, enabling Jenne to diversify into other enterprises. In 1916, he financed construction of an office block in downtown Douglas—the Jenne Building, at Third and Center; the building is still extant, and remains a historic attraction in its own right.