800 Block of North Collington Avenue (Rowhouses), 801-847 North Collington Avenue, Baltimore, Independent City, MD

Significance: The 800 block of North Collington Avenue is a good example of an early twentieth-century row of urban vernacular rowhouses. The row of 24 houses was constructed by builder Frank Novak in 1901. Novak was the son of Bohemian (Czech) immigrants. The houses were built at an average cost of $800 each. Novak sold most of them to fellow Bohemians. That same year, much of the west side of the 800 block was purchased by the Catholic parish of Saint Wenceslaus. The subsequent construction of a school (1906) and substantial church (1914) cemented the 800 block as the epicenter of the Bohemian immigrant community in Baltimore. Novak would go on to become one of the city's most prolific rowhouse builders, earning him the moniker, "The Two-Story King of East Baltimore."

The house at 847, on the corner of North Collington and Ashland Avenues, was altered by Bohemian immigrant and butcher William Oktavec in 1913 to become a store. An entrance was installed at the corner, with a metal column inserted to support the masonry wall above. At an unknown date the building was stuccoed. Beginning with his shop's screen doors, Oktavec is considered the inventor of the Baltimore folk art tradition of screen painting.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2178
Survey number: HABS MD-392
Building/structure dates: 1901 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 09001061