The new Cooksville Guide Books are here!

 Come take a self-guided tour of the village, either from your armchair or on foot. The Guide contains beautiful full-color pictures of the historic homes and landmarks of the village, and is full of interesting facts about the area and the people who made it unique. Makes a great gift. On sale now at the Cooksville Country Store for $10.  Proceeds benefit the Cooksville Community Center.

Two Historic Houses for Sale in Cooksville

Two historic houses in the Cooksville Historic District—the Longbourne House and the John Seaver House— are for sale. Both are located on the Public Square in the Village of Cooksville.

The rural community of Cooksville, which is located in northwest Rock County, is often called “a wee bit of New England in Wisconsin” and was established in 1842, enlarged in 1846 by the addition of the Village of Waucoma next to it. The village was designated an official state and federal historic district in 1973 and is a locally designated historic area as well.

Longbourne House

The historic Longbourne House, built about 1854, is a charming two-story Gothic Revival house constructed of Cooksville vermilion brick with decorated bargeboards at the roofline and porch. The residence has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, and features a great room as well as parlor, study and dining room.

The house was built for Thomas W. Longbourne, an Englishman, who operated the local flour mill. Longbourne sold the house in 1866 to Charles Woodbury, who operated the Cooksville store, and it was often the residence of local storekeepers. A large contemporary addition to the rear enhances the home’s livability and harmonizes with the historic house. The former small wood-framed addition was moved, re-designed and converted to a two-car garage.

The Longbourne House was bequeathed by the late Hank Bova to the Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc. Hank was a director of the Historic Cooksville Trust.

The second house for sale is the historic John Seaver House. This l½ story frame Greek Revival house was built circa1849 by John W. Fisher, a local carpenter. The clapboard exterior and front porch of this historic house have been restored, and a new addition to the south and a new garage were added. Extensive garden plantings extend to the rear of the property. This house is located next to the Longbourne House.

The historic rural Village of Cooksville, also known as “the town that time forgot,” has long been known for its well-preserved and carefully rehabilitated historic buildings, including the Cooksville General Store (the oldest in the state), the schoolhouse (now the Cooksville Community Center), two historic churches, and the 1840s and 1850s historic homes and barns.

For more information about the historic houses for sale, contact Sharon Milliken, First Weber Realtors, at her office (608) 828-5107, or cell (608) 347-8162.

Posted by Larry Reed

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Historic House Near Cooksville Available Free to Mover

If you would like a free historic house and can move it to a new location, you might be interested in the limestone Stebbins House, built 1850, near Cooksville in northwestern Rock County.

Built in the Federal-Greek Revival style, the old rural residence has been called one of the finest mid-19^th century farmhouses in Rock County. It was the home of prominent Porter Township resident Harrison Stebbins in the 19^th century, and in the mid-20^th century an old and unusual heritage apple tree was discovered on the property and was named “Bonnie’s Best” Historic Cooksville Apple.

The Stebbins House is a solid, quarried -limestone structure with approximately 2400 square feet under the Federal-style roof with stone parapets, stepped-gables  and chimneys at each end. The five-bay residence has stone lintels above doors and windows and bulls-eye louvers in the gables of the attic.                       

            Stebbins House (1850), photo late 20^th century.

Located near the historic Village of Cooksville, the house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the greater Cooksville area’s historic and architectural heritage.

The Cooksville Historic District is well-known for its mid-19^th century village architecture and history and has been called “a wee bit of New England in Wisconsin.”  Located along the banks of the Badfish Creek in the Town of Porter, the village has also been called “the town that time forgot.”

The historic house must be moved and re-located and is available free of charge. Several qualified lots in or near Cooksville are potentially available for purchase for its re-location, and a house-moving company has stated that the house can be easily moved.

Solidly constructed, the stone house retains much of its interior woodwork and other architectural details. The late 19^th-century front porch has collapsed, the present wood-frame addition is not moveable, and, of course, the house will need rehabilitation.

The Stebbins House is available from the owner or through the Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc., a non-profit charity, which helps to preserve the area’s heritage. The Trust is cooperating with the owner to help coordinate the move and the relocation of the historic house.

For more information about the house, contact the owner Ted ­­­­at (608) 444-3951 or Larry Reed at (608) 873-5066.