Many people are not eager to visit the dentist, but Brown Family Dentistry has a unique draw: “Some will tell me, ‘The reason I gave you guys a try … was because I was curious about the firehouse,’” says Jessica Brown, who co-owns the business with her husband, Wes.
Their 118-year-old North Saint Joseph Avenue office was designed by architect Frank Schlotter and once was — and, from the outside, still looks like — Evansville Fire Department’s Hose House No. 5, which moved up to the Maryland Street intersection in 1988. Wes opened the practice in 2006 in Newburgh, with Jessica following a year later. Lovers of historic structures, they jumped at the chance to relocate their office to Wes’ native West Side
After its firefighting days ended, Hose House No. 5 became graphic and interior design firms, then sat empty for several years before the Browns purchased it at auction in February 2011. “When we got the building, it was in good shape. So, we were pretty lucky,” Wes says. With elbow grease from friends and family, renovations took six months.
A Logansport, Indiana, native, Jessica designed the layout for ease of movement. “We were just trying to make it as easy as possible as far as foot traffic, that we were not rounding corners. … We just wanted a really straight layout,” she says. When decorating, the Browns evoked an antique look with transom glass, detailed wood trim, and exposed brick.
The practice opened in its new home in November 2011. The old bell tower atop the Romanesque Revival exterior is no longer, but the firehouse’s history shines through the fire pole and spiral staircase. From the days of horse-drawn water pumpers, the stables were behind what now is the waiting room. Later, firefighters slept in a loft that’s now the attic, the double-door front entrance used to be the sheriff’s office, and the former captain’s quarters still is an office.
“People come in and say, ‘I used to run around this neighborhood, and the firemen would let us come into the firehouse and check things out,’” Wes says.
During renovations, former House No. 5 firefighters popped by to reminisce and gave the
Browns old photographs. “When we were doing construction, they were worried that we were going to mess the building up,” Wes says. “They were pretty excited that we were going to maintain everything,” Jessica adds. “It’s a historic landmark. We like historical structures. … We really want to try to save them if we can.”
