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Resource Number: 5BL 8027
<br />Temporary Resource Number: 157508415009
<br />The first residential directory available from after 1900 is the one for 1904, and it lists Peter and Leopoldina (called
<br />"Annie") Fiechtl as well as Ben Fiechtl as living at "Lafarge & Spruce." However, it is not clear from this information
<br />whether 817 Spruce at yet been constructed. "Lafarge & Spruce" would have been a reasonable description for the
<br />location of both 801 Spruce and 817 Spruce, and the 1904 directory does not give address numbers for any
<br />addresses.
<br />Ben Fiechtl and his wife, Lyda, are listed as living at 817 Spruce (then called 315 Spruce) in 1916. Their young family
<br />at the time, living in the house with them, would have included their son Benedict Jr., who was born in about 1911,
<br />and their son George, who was born in 1914.
<br />In 1917, Peter Fiechtl Sr. legally conveyed part of his property, that at 817 Spruce, to his son, Ben (or at least, it was
<br />in 1917 that the deed was recorded).
<br />Ben Fiechtl then sold 817 Spruce in 1919. The year before the sale, he had purchased a small farm at 501 West
<br />Spruce, which was a small farm to the west of what is considered Old Town Louisville, and moved there. This was
<br />the primary residence at which he and his family then lived for a long time. Lyda died in 1962 and Benedict Fiechtl
<br />Sr. died in 1966. Benedict and Lyda's son, Ben Fiechtl Jr., enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and was one of the nine
<br />young men from Louisville who were killed in World War II. Their son George died in 1997. The 1936 directory
<br />shows that following the death of their father and the sale of the house at 801 Spruce, Peter Fiechtl Jr. went to live on
<br />the small farm of his brother, Benedict Fiechtl, at 501 West Spruce. Peter Jr. died in 1977. His obituary stated that he
<br />worked as both a miner and a carpenter.
<br />Starting in 1918, the next owners and residents of 817 Spruce were James and Eliza Henderson and Eliza's son,
<br />Hiram ("Harry") Kerr, and the family owned it from 1919 to 1925, according to online property records. James
<br />Henderson and Harry Kerr are both listed as working at KJK Motor Co. on Main Street. Their address in 1918 and
<br />1921 is given as 315 Spruce, which was one of the two former addresses found for 817 Spruce.
<br />From 1926 to about 1930, the owners and residents were Esther and Andrew Lepenske. Esther (Esterena, or
<br />"Rena") Lepenske was the daughter of Peter and Savina Zarini, and Esther had grown up very close by at 804 La
<br />Farge (5BL7983). This makes 817 Spruce one of a number of houses in Jefferson Place, and particularly in the
<br />vicinity of La Farge and Spruce, that were historically associated with members of the Zarini family. The Lepenskes
<br />are listed in the 1926, 1928, and 1930 directories as living at 317 Spruce, the other of the former addresses of 817
<br />Spruce.
<br />In the 1930s, the house at 817 Spruce appears to have been a rental. Pierre and Adele Ehrlich are listed in the 1932
<br />and 1935 Louisville directories as residing at 315 Spruce, which would have been today's 817 Spruce.
<br />Over the period from 1929 to 1952, owners of 817 Spruce consisted of August and Honorine Dhieux (sometimes
<br />stated to be "Dewey," the way it was pronounced); Marie and Henry Vanderstraten Sr.; Baptist and Clementina
<br />Bottinelli, who are also associated with 822 La Farge (5BL7991); Eunice Rhodes; Honorine Dhieux; her children,
<br />Honorine McClary and August Dhieux Jr.; and Mary and Henry Vanderstraten Jr. These owners could not always be
<br />confirmed as also being residents of the house. However, the 1946 directory lists "Onorene Dewey," which is a
<br />reference to Honorine Dhieux, as living at 817 Spruce after having been widowed.
<br />In 1952, Pasquale and Clara Scarpella purchased 817 Spruce. Pasqual's name is variously given in the records as
<br />Pasqual, Pasquale, Pasco, and Paskel. He mainly went by the nickname of "Halo," however. He was born in 1918
<br />and grew up at another Jefferson Place property, 936 Jefferson. His primary career was his work for the Burlington
<br />Northern Railroad. He is also credited with being instrumental in the rebuilding of Miners Field baseball park in
<br />Louisville. Clara Scarpella was a member of Louisville's Pivik family and was born in 1920; her parents lived at 824
<br />Pine St. They had a daughter, Judith.
<br />Clara Scarpella passed away in 1969. Pasquale Scarpella remarried to Naomi Stones on 1970. She was a widow
<br />and they met because they both worked for the University of Colorado. Pasquale then went to live at the home of his
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