1248 Connecticut Street

A major exterior paint job is drawing attention to the Queen Anne house at 1248 Connecticut. Stella Provias, a local realtor, has lived there with her partner Shane Powers and their three children for more than 5 years. When she purchased the house, it needed painting inside and out. She lights up with passion when speaking about her home. “I’ve always been fascinated with older houses,” she says. “I’ve always felt most comfortable and at home in them.” 

Provias remembered this home from when she arrived in Lawrence in 1995 to attend KU. At that time, it was a rental where a friend resided. She was enamored with the home the moment she walked in. “Never in a million years did I think I would someday own it,” she says now. 

She reached out to the Watkins Museum several years ago to learn more about the house’s history. She was given the following clipping, dated January 1, 1901, from the Lawrence Daily Journal: 

“Prof Charles Vickrey’s house at the corner of Lee and Connecticut streets was another one of the more expensive homes built this year. The house is a two-story frame structure, with modern conveniences, and cost about $4,000. It is a very great improvement to the part of town in which it was erected.” 

Shortly after purchasing it, Provias had the interior plaster and lath repaired and painted. The exterior took more thought and effort. “I obsessed about the colors for over two years,” she remembers. “I was constantly researching online, driving around town and asking my friends about what the color combination should be.” 

Researching online, she stumbled upon the Bair-Stokes House, an 1888 Queen Anne Victorian in Arcata, California. Its enchanting dark purple siding, midnight blue trim and gold accents inspired her. 

After a couple of failed attempts with house painters, Provias met Gregory Collins of Absolute Painting. “The crew was awesome,” she says, “and we got to know those guys really well.” The work started last fall and was done by December. 

The color scheme was a bold decision, and for the most part people have responded favorably to the dark, nontraditional colors. The spindles and fret work on the front porch along with the gable ornamentation are beautiful. The vibrant hues demand your attention. Most importantly, Provias loves it. “I wanted an eye-catching, dramatic but still refined color combination that passersby would notice,” she says. “It’s captivating, it excites me, and it feels right.”

936 Kentucky Street

Anyone driving south on Kentucky Street near downtown in the last month has likely noticed ongoing work at the home of longtime LPA member James Dunn. For a while, the huge, fluted column on the south corner was gone and the porch roof was braced to the ground. Now the column is back in place and the north column is removed and braced. A thorough and careful maintenance and rehabilitation program of the front porch and veranda is well underway.

The Wheeler-Stuart House (KHRI 045-466) is a two-story Colonial Revival built in 1903 that is a contributing property to the Oread Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The original brick portion showcases a full-length covered front porch. When a south addition of stucco, two stories tapering to one, was added circa 1925 (a second addition, to the rear, was built later), the porch floor was extended as well.

Sometime in the early 1900s, the property was converted to a tearoom and boarding house, and the Colonial Tea Room, which lasted until around 1947, was born. By the time James and his wife Nancy bought the house in 1967, the apartments and rented rooms remained, and James has lived here, managing the rented rooms and his other apartment properties, since then.

Without protection from the elements, the exposed flooring in front of the stucco addition had deteriorated to the point that James worried about its safety. The handrail also needed to be rebuilt. Once Cecil Construction, (Ryan Cecil, principal), who James has worked with for several years—including at 916 Kentucky, a 2018 LPA PIP award winner—was on the job, they quickly realized that the framing underneath the floor needed replacement as well, due to rot and termite damage. The brick pier under the southwest corner of the porch also needed to be rebuilt.

Mason Steve Haines disassembled the brick pier, poured a new concrete one, and wrapped it with brick. Cecil Construction team members replaced the framing and installed a new floor. Their extra thought and care are evident in the design they chose for the handrail balusters and their attachment to the lower rail. The top face of the lower rail is cut at a pitch, so it sheds water easily. The bottom of each baluster is notched to fit the pitched angle of the lower rail, and all components are primed on all sides prior to installation. These are the types of design decisions one should make when working with modern wood, which has more vulnerabilities than the old-growth lumber that carpenters of yesteryear employed.

The work on the veranda side is now complete and the project scope is heading towards the north corner. Congratulations to James Dunn and the Cecil Construction team for a job well done.

1238 Rhode Island Street

In the South Rhode Island and New Hampshire Street Historic District, Toni and Walt Clogston are spearheading an ambitious restoration of a circa-1870 vernacular gable-front-and-wing National Folk house. The project involves a complete overhaul of the property inside and out, with the goal of transforming what was once a triplex back into a single-family home. Records indicate that the house, which over time had accumulated several additions, may have served as a three-dwelling unit since at least 1887.

The Clogstons embarked on this journey after completing a previous rehab on New Hampshire Street and were drawn to this project due to its proximity to their primary residence and its location within a historic district, which provides an opportunity to use historic tax credits for projects like this.

They anticipated major foundation work but were taken aback by the extent of the damage. The wood sill plate needed replacement and other parts of the framing had also suffered from rot and termite damage. Fortunately, dedicated professionals Mike Myers of Hernly Associates, general contractor Kyle Weiland of Stonehouse Construction and mason Karl Ramberg and his team have designed the proper structural repairs and work is well underway.

Walt and Toni have spent time at the Spencer Research Library learning more about their property, designated in the National Register of Historic Places as the Campbell House, after one-time homeowners William and Helen Campbell. New questions were generated by work on the project, such as why the rafters in an upper-level ceiling are charred. No answers on that one yet, though they have checked old Fire Department records in their effort to find out.

The foundation work is looking great but still is a work in progress as structural and drainage issues are addressed inside and outside the house. Then it’s on to the next phase of the process. The Clogstons anticipate an 18-month timeline for completion.

Drawing from the couple’s prior experience with rehabilitation projects, Toni offers valuable advice. She emphasizes the importance of selecting trustworthy contractors who share your vision and recommends having a substantial contingency budget. Toni and Walt know that preservation work demands resilience in the face of unexpected challenges, sometimes making it a labor of love.

Thanks to their unwavering commitment and the expertise and skills of their chosen professionals, 1238 Rhode Island is being meticulously restored to its former glory. This will be a fun project to keep an eye on as it moves along.

Oak Hill Cemetery

COURTESY OF THE WATKINS MUSEUM OF HISTORY

The history of Lawrence is evident in many places across the city, but perhaps none richer and more memorable than the grounds of Oak Hill Cemetery, established in 1865 on a 40-acre plot in part to provide a proper final resting place for those who had died in Quantrill’s Raid two years earlier.

In 2017, a small group of citizens led by Shannon Hodges, concerned about years of deterioration of the grounds, monuments and markers, formed the Friends of Oak Hill Cemetery and began working with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department on cleaning up the cemetery. 

The group incorporated in 2019 and began cleanup efforts, but its work recently has accelerated after completing a merger—facilitated by LPA Board member Sarah Bishop of Coneflower Consulting—with the Douglas County Historical Society. Now the DCHS Oak Hill Cemetery Programing Committee is making transformational headway in bringing the cemetery back to a level the community can be proud of.

Oak Hill uses a Rural Cemetery design that was a popular movement in the East but still cutting-edge in the Midwest when Holland Wheeler, the county surveyor and later city engineer, laid out the first plat in 1868. Wheeler continued to be a principal figure at the cemetery until his death in 1920. The Rural Cemetery design emphasized retaining natural landscape features such as rolling hillsides and mature trees, with meandering roadways provided for access. Expansions in 1886 and 1918 stayed true to that design.

Historic Resources Administrator Lynne Zollner wrote a nomination for the cemetery to the Lawrence Register of Historic Places in 2016. City and state funds were then combined to fund a National Register nomination, written by Julia Manglitz, which won approval for listing in 2017.

COURTESY OF THE WATKINS MUSEUM OF HISTORY

Friends of Oak Hill Cemetery began with a goal of fundraising for restoration efforts, promoting greater community awareness, and coordinating volunteer hands-on opportunities for grounds cleanup and marker preservation. Last October, the Oak Hill Cemetery Program Committee began working in partnership with Pacific Coast Conservation (PCC), based in Colorado and led by Lucinda Linderman. 

Funded by City of Lawrence Capital Improvement Plan funds, a grant from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council, and private donations raised by the committee, PCC is concentrating its efforts on marker preservation for Quantrill’s victims as well as repair of broken headstones or those categorized as unsafe or unstable. This PCC work is complemented by monthly Sunday workdays, when Programming  Committee members work alongside community volunteers to clean select stones and markers.

Interested volunteers can email Watkins Museum staffer and Programming Committee spokesperson Natalie Vondrack at nvondrak@watkinsmuseum.org. LPA thanks go out to committee chair Rosalea Postma-Carttar and committee members Denise Pettengill, Leslie Beesley, Grace Aubrey, Peter Carttar, Kerry Altenbernd and Kathryn Nemeth-Tuttle for their dedicated work.

733 Tennessee Street

COURTESY OF AMANDA SANTOS

In May of last year, Amanda and Eddie Santos achieved a dream when they purchased this prominent Victorian-style home across the street from the Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center. Built in 1894, the home was first occupied by jewelry store owner Frank Hester, his wife and daughter Nina, and Nina lived in the home into the 1980s. The Santos, just the fourth owners of the home, could see that the structure retained much of its original architectural integrity.

Porch repair was an immediate need. Unlike most porch repair projects, the structural failure involved the roof framing rather than the floor. The roof joists were separating and needed to be completely rebuilt. Amanda had noticed an LPA PIP sign in a neighbor’s yard last fall and read in the LPA Instagram project writeup that it had benefited from the Kansas Historic Tax Credit. She knew that 733 Tennessee was a contributing property in the Old West Lawrence Historic District, so she contacted the Kansas Historical Society (785-272-8681) and spoke with Mallory Aye, a tax credit specialist.

Individually listed properties on the State or National registers, or contributing properties within State or Federal Historic Districts, are eligible to use the credits, with a $5,000 minimum project cost to qualify.

COURTESY OF AMANDA SANTOS

After paying a $200 application fee, the wait for design approval before work could begin took just two weeks, though up to a month is sometimes necessary if the office is overwhelmed with applications. Needing a local building permit, the project received administrative approval by Lawrence’s Historic Resources Administrator without requiring a full hearing at the Historic Resources Commission.

Jordan Brenn of Brenn Luxury Homes did a great job on the repair project, including matching the decorative detail at the end of each roof joist. With the porch now repaired, the house awaits a full paint job this summer that will also be covered by the tax credit, which will reimburse 25% of approved costs. 

In some extensive rehabs—and commercial ones using both state and federal credits—the tax credit process is best accomplished with the help of a tax credit consultant. But the Santos tax credit process did just fine as a DIY. “As long as you follow the instructions, it’s pretty simple,” Amanda says. “I would definitely encourage people to do this. We are contributing to the preservation of our shared history.”

11 E 8th Street

COURTESY OF EVAN HOLT & MARY HOLT

A dedicated rehabilitation team led by Evan Holt and Mary Holt has breathed new life into this commercial building in downtown Lawrence. After over a year of work, two businesses—Grounded Coffee and Henry’s Upstairs—are benefiting from all the work done inside and out.

Originally constructed as two separate buildings in 1870, the structure is now a cohesive brick-faced two-part commercial block. Inside, removal of a drop ceiling, sheetrock partition walls and layers of patchwork materials revealed the historic building’s original character.

A beautiful open floor plan is now featured on the street level, where Grounded Coffee is located, with two bathrooms and a mechanical room separated in the back. 

The second floor, home of Henry’s Upstairs, still retains its residential apartment-like layout. The addition of pine floors, trim and windows in the mid-20th century gave the space warmth and charm that has been enhanced by the current work. While now supporting use as a bar, rehabilitation work has been carefully performed to ensure a harmonious blend of past and present.

Electrical and plumbing systems throughout the building now meet modern standards. Non-historic lighting systems were replaced with energy-efficient ones. Existing historic fixtures were cleaned and reinstalled. Historic hardware was carefully restored.

COURTESY OF EVAN HOLT & MARY HOLT

The exterior’s brick and native limestone surfaces had seen some rough treatment over the years and required extra care. Vines that had climbed the walls for decades—causing masonry damage both by their attachment and holding moisture in the facade—were removed. Original street-level window openings on the alley side that had been closed for years with concrete blocks were restored. All masonry surfaces were cleaned and tuckpointed.

The storefront facing Eighth Street was cleaned, repaired and painted, with new metal windows installed that were consistent with the historic architectural style. Wood windows upstairs were repaired. The project is using both the Kansas Historic Tax Credit as well as the Federal Credit for income-producing properties, reimbursing up to 45% of qualifying rehab costs.

Historic Downtown Lawrence is now one storefront stronger thanks to this thorough and painstaking effort by Evan and Mary!

718 Ohio Street Detached Garage

Fascinating architecture and local history are evident to anyone walking the sidewalks of neighborhoods located within Lawrence’s original urban core. The same is true of alleys and the structures along them. Tim and Alee Phillips spent 2020 doing a full rehab of the little house at 718 Ohio, but this year they turned to the detached structure out back, with the goal of using it as a 1½- car garage. After consulting with city Historic Resources Administrator Lynne Zollner and knowing about the availability of Kansas’ 25 percent historic tax credit, they decided to tackle this second rehab project.

718 OHIO DETACHED GARAGE

The house was built in 1910, but evidence uncovered during its rehab suggests a portion of it is older. The date of the detached structure is unknown. Longtime neighbors told the Phillips that the previous owner, Henry Johnson, had stored an old car in it for as long as they could recall—but no garage door opening was evident. When the panel and batt siding was removed to uncover original siding underneath, an opening on the west wall was revealed that was similar to the still-existing barn door on the east (alley) side.

The cracked foundation slab was removed, revealing that the original sill plate was laid on stacked bricks. That forced the couple to increase the concrete portion of their budget for a more substantial alternative.

COURTESY OF ALEE PHILLIPS

Hickory Ridge Construction (Matt Mozier, principal), the same contractor that did the rehab work on the house, performed all the carpentry work. New framing supports were added, and new cypress drop siding installed in areas where previous siding had been removed or was not salvageable. Matt relied on Woodhaven in Perry, Kansas to provide an expert match to the profile of the original material. Spyderart was the concrete contractor. Mike Myers of Hernly Associates provided architectural services.

A fun aspect of the project is that the barn door, with original hardware refurbished by Tim and Alee, still functions, though it does have a full wall behind it and is no longer an opening to the structure.

Stories of our history are embedded in structures both magnificent and humble. Humble stories are often most vulnerable to being lost over time, due to their nature. LPA appreciates this effort that preserves those stories for a modest alley structure while providing a daily function for a modern family.

816 Rhode Island Street

816 Rhode Island Street

This one-story gable-front and wing national folk residence, a contributing property in the North Rhode Island Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, is doing just fine these days after decades of being down on its luck. Built in 1867, it already had lost its original front porch by the time the district was designated in 2004, and any repairs made in the time since were of the “make-do” variety. Most repair needs simply went unmet.

By 2021 a new owner proposed to demolish the structure and replace it with new construction. When the Historic Resources Commission (HRC) denied that application, the property was sold again, this time to Chris Cunningham, one of the principals in CT Design + Development. While this firm is relatively new, its partners have years of experience in Lawrence.

The property presented a difficult set of design issues because the historic structure, in addition to being in very rough shape, was so small that building an addition that could not be seen from the public right of way—an important goal for any addition to a listed property—would leave the builder with an addition too small for it to be a feasible project.

Chris’ initial design featured a modern two-story addition at the rear of the house that would use floor-to-ceiling glass on the east and west facades of the portion that extended beyond the existing structure and thus would be completely in view from the street. The glass look, desirable in modern design, would also make the addition less imposing to the historic structure from the street view than a solid wall construction would. It was enough to interest the HRC, and with one further adjustment on that portion of the addition—changing the second level to an outdoor deck with a fireplace—the project won HRC approval.

COURTESY OF CHRIS CUNNINGHAM

Cunningham partnered with Landon Harness (Form & Function)—a previous PIP winner—to bring the project to life. For the old structure, “straightening, leveling, and making it ready to stand for another 150 years was certainly an undertaking,” he says. The speculative nature of the project was vindicated when, two months before completion, it went under contract to a new owner excited to move in.

Just one year ago, 816 Rhode Island was a historic property nearing its end with seemingly nowhere to go but down. LPA congratulates the entire project team for finding a way to save this National Register historic property.

2235 East Street

2235 East Street

Tucked away in a pocket of Lawrence that most “townies” don’t even know about, the marvelous home known as Roanoke has been undergoing a careful and thoughtful update by new owners Andrew Sexton and Julia Ireland. LPA has noticed exterior painting work being done there, as well as some Facebook posts by the owners, who purchased the property in December 2020. But for the most part, East (and West) Drive, nestled between Vermont and Tennessee and just north of 23rd Street, isn’t an area that many vehicles or pedestrians pass by.

This Queen Anne Cottage, built in 1894 by Alexander Shaw & Son, served as the primary home of Martha Gillette Babcock, widow of Carmi Babcock, Lawrence’s first Postmaster General and second mayor. A real estate investor, Babcock had purchased a large tract of land south of 14th Street, which became known as Babcock’s Addition as early as 1858. He and Martha married in 1866, and this home was built to replace a prior house that was destroyed by fire. The only structures in the immediate vicinity older than this home are the two stone structures just to its west—a barn/carriage house and a workers’ house—that remain from the previous house and now sit on the property of 2239 West Drive.

THIS HISTORIC BARN/CARRIAGE HOUSE AND WORKERS' HOUSE AT 2239 WEST DRIVE STILL REMAIN FROM CARMI BABCOCK'S FIRST HOUSE THAT WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE AND ARE THE OLDEST REMAINING STRUCTURES IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA.

Andrew and Julia have worked hard to inform their design updates with historical research, including consultations with archivists at the Watkins Museum of History and communications with previous owners, including one family—three owners prior—who lived here for 30 years. They even took time to learn about historically accurate color palettes for their home before tackling the seven-color paint job.

Plumbing and electrical updates were necessary, along with repairing, sanding and refinishing the main staircase and refurbishing the original hardwood floors throughout. Many hours were spent repairing the original windows—including original weights and cords—so they all open easily again. Outdated wallpaper is in process of being removed, and plaster walls repaired and painted.

Landscaping improvements have included removal of extraneous railroad ties and concrete while adding grass and butterfly gardens. During this work, Andrew and Julia discovered a 7,500-gallon brick cistern in good condition and are developing plans to use it for landscaping irrigation.

A highlight for Andrew and Julia is the complete remodeling of the kitchen, with a more user-friendly layout, new custom cabinetry, more storage areas, and the addition of a large walk-in pantry.

2235 EAST DRIVE

Curious to learn more about the antique carriage lamps that were being used as porch lights but hadn’t worked in ages, they found out from the family that had lived here for 30 years that the lamps were originally powered by candlelight and were salvaged from that owner’s grandfather’s barn in Marion, Iowa. One of the owners at the time, a KU professor, worked with the shop department at KU to electrify them and the head of the shop department presented them to the homeowners as a housewarming gift. Now the lamps are glowing once again!

Of course, there’s always more work to do, but Andrew and Julia enjoy appreciating the house’s history while respectfully adding their own stories to it. “As caretakers of this historic home,” they say, ”it is important to us to maintain its beauty and integrity while making improvements and needed repairs. The quality of this home is unmatched by today’s standards, and it was truly built to last. There have been generations of families living within these walls during times when our country was very different. This home is more to us than just a place to live. It is a living history that we get to be a part of.”

Turnhalle - 900 Rhode Island Street

Turnhalle - 900 Rhode Island Street

Turnhalle is coming back! After being vacant and shuttered from the public for the past nine years, this landmark (1869) German American community building is about to be the subject of a major rehabilitation project.

Local business owners Zarif and Mamie Haque purchased the property from developer Tony Krsnich in March. Krsnich had purchased it from LPA in 2014 but was unable to find a way to bring the property back to daily use with a new tenant. The Haques have hired local preservation design firm Hernly Associates to help them plan and coordinate a rehabilitation project that will pass historic review and use both federal and Kansas historic tax credit programs. Planning documents have been filed with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, and it will be an agenda item for the Historic Resources Commission—with LPA support—on August 18. The Haques plan to return the Turnhalle to its original use as an entertainment venue and community social center.

The architect team of Stan Hernly and Mike Myers are very aware of the significance of this project. “I’m excited that we’ve been entrusted to create the plans for Turnhalle’s rehabilitation as a surviving cultural artifact from another generation,” Mike says. “Older buildings have often seen so many disparate uses that one must peel back several layers of material to discover the true nature and original configuration. With Turnhalle, there are no extra layers of anything. It’s as if it has been suspended in time since the Lawrence Turnverein sold it in 1938.”

In addition to repair of character-defining features, a key component of the project will be to install modern plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems, as well as safety systems like fire suppression, elevators, stairs and ramps—and doing all this in ways that won’t damage historic materials or compromise historic integrity.

One new component of the plan is a small two-story addition behind the east end of the building that will house accessible bathrooms, kitchen prep and greenroom areas that can support the mixed-use performance and event space the new owners envision. The addition is appropriately sized and will keep those essential activities out of the main hall interior and the stage, while allowing the use to be very similar to its original historic one.

Protecting the Turnhalle as a viable rehab candidate has been a prime focus of LPA since 2012, when it purchased the property because of grave concerns about its failing condition. LPA led a stabilization project, largely funded by a Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council grant, that corrected a major structural defect between the stone and wood frame sections of the building and addressed numerous water infiltrations. In 2018, with Turnhalle still in need of a larger project to return it to public use, LPA intervened again by purchasing the parking lot across 9th Street to preserve a parking option in hopes that a time like this would come.

Stan Hernly recognizes these efforts that gave Turnhalle another decade of life and a chance to come back. “Lawrence is really lucky to have retained this building for so long when its use since the 1930s has been so marginal,” he says. “It could easily have been demolished or fallen so deeply into disrepair that rehabilitation would have been prohibitive.”

It's possible that “preservation in progress” couldn’t happen to a more deserving building in Lawrence right now. LPA’s thanks and best wishes go out to Zarif and Mamie Haque for taking it on and making it happen.

1313 Massachusetts Street

1313 Massachusetts St

Anyone driving down Massachusetts Street near South Park probably has noticed the work going on at 1313 Massachusetts Street, immediately south of the Castle Tea Room. We certainly have.

The small house at this address has been vacant since 2006, and there were questions whether rehabilitation or demolition would be the next step for this property. But now new owner (and LPA board member) Pat Watkins—after a thorough and painstaking project—is putting the finishing touches on a sweet house that he brought back from death’s doorstep.

This gable-front National Folk-style house has more than a next-door connection with the John N. Roberts House, now known as the Castle Tea Room. Built in 1870, 1313 Massachusetts was sold in 1873 by John and Emily Roberts, who would later build the castle as their personal residence. After several twists and turns involving different owners—including Roberts again in 1898—and several small additions and changes over time, the two properties became connected by ownership again when Libuse Kriz Fiorito and her husband Louis purchased them in 1947 in an effort to save the deteriorating Roberts home. Libby Fiorito opened the Castle Tea Room and ran the restaurant herself until her death in 2004.

Today 1313 Massachusetts is listed on the Register of Kansas Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. The register nomination, written by Stan Hernly and available here, is a fascinating read about the lineage of ownership and different architectural styles implemented with each addition—the predominant one being the Craftsman style evident in the entry foyer, a triple window, two dormers and the remodeled kitchen.

Windows are a spectacular feature of the house, and every component of every window has been restored. It’s one of Pat’s favorite features of the home because of all the light they bring inside. Another aspect of this project that received major attention was the foundation masonry. Kyle Weiland of Stonehouse Construction personally oversaw the removal and restacking of the stones and leveling of the floor above them in a particularly complex and technical task. Now newly painted a beautiful shade of blue, the house looks great, and one can appreciate the added value of the Castle’s courtyard and historic fountain complementing it immediately next door.

This property is projected for office or short-term rental use and is using both the 25% Kansas Historic Tax Credit and 20% Federal Historic Tax Credit programs to help cover the expenses of working on a historic registered property. Part of Pat’s law practice is providing historic tax credit consulting services, so that was one subcontractor he didn’t have to search for. Keep an eye out for an LPA Old House Warming open house sometime this fall as a part of Pat’s well-deserved celebrations in successfully completing this project. We’ll let you know when a date is set. Driving by is fun, but we can’t wait to see this project up close.

1111 E. 19th Street

ROBERT H MILLER HOUSE

It’s a fact: historic structures have longer lives than the humans who occupy them. It’s one reason why we often hear owners of historic properties refer to themselves as caretakers. This is certainly the case with longtime LPA members Dennis and Judy Dailey, who have wrapped up 38 years of ownership of the Robert H. Miller House (1858) at 1111 E. 19th Street, just east of Haskell Avenue. But Dennis and Judy may not have realized this in 1984 when, while searching for a house closer to the KU campus, they happened to see a tiny homemade “for sale” sign in the yard as they passed by.

Having both experienced farm (Judy) and small town (Dennis) life growing up in Minnesota, the Daileys were beckoned by the stately Colonial Foursquare on five urban acres as they first turned into the drive. “This is it!” Judy remembers thinking as they knocked on the door. Minutes later they were talking with owner Dorothy Eller, who had just had the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was asking them questions that seemed designed to determine if they could be appropriate owners of the house.

DENNIS & JUDY DAILEY

Discovering the property’s connection to the Underground Railroad early on (the Millers had been very successful farmers in South Carolina but moved from the state because of their anti-slavery views) and its significance to Quantrill’s Raid (Quantrill visited the house on his way into town but spared it) the Daileys were determined to learn as much as they could about the Millers. Spencer Research Library proved to be a great start, but when they connected with Miller’s great-great-granddaughter, Carol Manley, and met with her in Des Moines, they found a treasure trove of family photo albums and files that filled in the blanks. In fact, Dennis has written about this history in Dennis Domer’s book Embattled Lawrence Vol. 2, soon to be available to the public.

All the while, there was still this house and small farm to run and family life to live. Dennis remembers taking a couple dozen round hay bales every year from the south pasture. The Daileys rebuilt the cupola on the barn (1910 and listed on the National Register), and even found an appropriate motor and fan for the windmill. The big project came in 2006: rebuilding a failed brick wall system on the west wall and making other structural repairs. State tax credits and a Kansas Heritage Trust Fund grant helped defray considerable expense as the Daileys lived for a year in a construction zone.

MILLER BARN

When a teacher friend asked if they could bring their class out on a field trip, Dennis showed the students around, sharing with them the rich history and purpose of each outbuilding. A tradition was born: two or three classes each year, typically third graders, coming out by bus to visit and learn. Students most enjoyed trying to wrap their heads around the idea of the hand-dug well and the outhouse.

A few years ago, the interior stairs and outdoor chores began to hint to Dennis and Judy that their time of caretaking this historic property was coming to an end. Longtime collectors, they had been working with a trusted family friend to find new owners for some of those precious belongings. The Daileys approached their friend about the property itself and suggested a purchase price that was accepted. This friend, as an interim owner, is now entrusted with finding the next owner who will cherish the history, commit to continued agricultural use of the pasture, and care for the house and outbuildings. It’s preservation in progress.

While the Daileys now live in an apartment on the west side of town, their thoughts are never far from the Miller place. But someone else will have to be the next person to respond to a knock on the door to see a stranger, car parked behind, saying hello and—true story—asking, “What time is the museum open?”

Thanks for a great run, Dennis and Judy!

Mar Lan/Zimmerman Steel Building, 701 E. 19th Street

The Zimmerman Steel Building is looking great under new Mar Lan ownership. (All photos courtesy of Hernly Associates.)

The old Zimmerman Steel Building, a much-loved local midcentury-modern commercial structure that sits just east of the Burroughs Creek Trail at 701 E. 19th Street, is looking mighty fine these days. And there’s a good reason why: its new owner/occupant is cut from the same fabric as Lee Zimmerman himself, who acted as his own general contractor to build the structure circa 1960 to house his  company. Now this iconic structure is owned by Mar Lan Construction, a commercial general contracting, design-build and construction management firm, and just as Zimmerman built it, Mar Lan has now rehabilitated it.

The folded-plate steel frame of the office, designed by Lee Zimmerman.

In 53 years of business at the 19th Street location, Zimmerman Steel fabricated and sold structural steel and architectural metal components for many prominent buildings in Lawrence, on the KU campus, and throughout northeast Kansas. Many of the mid-century modern buildings in Lawrence were built with metal pieces purchased at Zimmerman Steel.  

The Zimmerman Steel Building was built in two phases as Lee Zimmerman moved his operation from 1832 Massachusetts in the mid-20th century. The shop space came first, in 1959, and Zimmerman designed and fabricated the steel frame himself. In 1963, Zimmerman added office space to the north that was designed in the mid-century modern style by the architectural firm Robertson & Ericson. Zimmerman enjoyed this modern style, as he had built his family home at 200 Nebraska — now listed with LPA help on the Lawrence Register of Historic Places — in the same style in 1955.

The front of the office building.

The current occupant of the building, Mar Lan, was founded in Lawrence in 1999 by Gale Lantis, Brian Lantis and Kevin Markley (James Allen was added later as a fourth partner), each a principal in the company. When Mar Lan began looking for centralized space, it had an office at 1008 New Hampshire and storage and shop spaces in two other locations.

“We wanted something unique and different,” Markley says, “and we had always admired the Zimmerman Building back to the days when we were customers of Zimmerman Steel.” But when they inquired about a possible sale or lease from what was then the property’s third owner, they were told no. About two years later though, that owner reached out to see if they still had interest in a purchase, and Mar Lan leapt at the opportunity.

Evaluating the site, they could see that a lot of updating was necessary, but Markley remembers it was important to “keep the original concept and layout sacred…the spaces seemed like they were made for our programming.” They contracted with Hernly Associates to write a nomination to the Kansas Register of Historic Places and were approved for listing in February. Listing on the National Register of Historic Places followed. This allowed Mar Lan to take advantage of the federal and state tax credit programs for rehabilitation projects for listed historic properties.

The project involved installation of new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new bathrooms and all new finishes. The office roof was replaced, new insulation was added and the storefront windows got new insulated panels at top and bottom and new interior storm windows. We had to ask Stan Hernly about the work scope, because a lot of it isn’t immediately evident when looking at the building today. He remarked that “I like when people can’t tell by looking how much work has been done on a historic rehabilitation project—it means the preservation architect has done a good job!”

One thing did need a complete overhaul, however. “The site was a real mess,” Markley says.  “Landscaping was a big thing for Lee Zimmerman, so we thought it was paramount that we pay careful attention on how this was managed.” From curb to gutter to landscaping, it was a complete site makeover. Mar Lan staff designed and installed this aspect of the work, and the personal pride they took in it is evident.

Mar Lan never left Lawrence, but with their cool new digs, LPA can honestly say, welcome home Mar Lan! And thanks to you and Hernly Associates, welcome back to the Zimmerman Steel Building! 

Amtrak/Santa Fe Depot Parking Lot

Nearly aS LONG AS A football field, the rediscovered floor and platform of the former Santa Fe freight house will be restored as part of the Amtrak depot’s new parking lot.

Sometimes a truly amazing discovery can sprout from mundane beginnings. Back in March, a contractor hired by the city began work on a routine parking improvement project just east of the historic midcentury-modern Amtrak/Santa Fe Depot at 413 E. 7th Street. Farmer’s Excavating was scraping away layers of dirt and gravel that had been there for years when they uncovered something that was certainly curious: an intact layer of red brick underlying almost the entire surface. Rather than continuing with the excavation and adding the brick to the debris pile, the contractor stopped work and alerted city engineer David Cronin.

Was it an abandoned brick street? The bricks were mortared together, which would not have occurred in typical brick street construction. Diving into research on the newly discovered brick, Cronin contacted Historic Resources Administrator Lynne Braddock Zollner; Stan Hernly, the project architect for the depot rehabilitation project that had been completed in 2019; members of the volunteer group Depot Redux, which had worked for years to save the modern station; and nearby East Lawrence neighbors, some of whom had lived in the area for many years.

The answer provided a link to the property’s historic past. The brick surface — nearly the length of a football field — was the floor and loading platform of the old freight depot that stood next to the original two-story depot until that structure was demolished after the great flood of 1951. Today’s modern version of the depot was built in 1956, and it is believed that the freight building survived into the 1960s.

Once the historic material had been identified, the city’s attention focused on whether it could be incorporated into the plan for the new lot. It was determined that the brick surface had a good base and an acceptable slope for drainage. Keeping the brick as usable surface on the lot’s north side could accommodate 17 parking spaces next to the east end of the depot, and the brickwork could be incorporated as a key element of the larger parking lot project.

The plan for the new parking lot shows how the old brickwork will be incorporated, including the slash across it that used to be tracks leading to an adjacent railroad siding.

As he worked through the preservation of the brick, Cronin moderated an email chat with more than a dozen community stakeholders to discuss various aspects of the project. Several details were thoughtfully worked out by this ad hoc group. One of particular interest was the appearance of a 10-foot-wide slash that ran diagonally through the brick field. It was determined that there had been a rail spur there to a warehouse just south of the site, but the rails had been removed at some point. The group analyzed three different options to preserve this facet of the site’s history before deciding on a concrete outline inlaid with brick, running counter to the direction of the brick in the rest of the lot.

Work has begun again, and what would have been a typical parking lot will now help current and future generations understand East Lawrence’s rich railroad history through a long-hidden physical connection to its past. City staff and the contractor followed a preservation best practice when a surprising and possibly significant historical element was uncovered: Work was stopped, experts and neighbors were engaged to discuss and resolve the issues presented, and plans were modified to allow the historic material to exist within the new project. LPA cannot applaud this preservation effort loudly enough. 

The Raven Book Store, 809 Massachusetts Street

It would be hard to imagine two businesses more different than an ax-throwing entertainment venue and a bookstore. But the transition from one to the other—through a crucible of fire—has brought new life to the Newmark Building at 809 Massachusetts Street.

Built in 1865, the building reopened recently as the new location for longtime Lawrence bookseller The Raven. The previous tenant of 809 Massachusetts was Blade & Timber, an ax-throwing attraction that was forced to close in October 2018 after an electrical fire broke out in the building. While the fire caused extensive damage, according to a report in the Lawrence Journal-World, Dalton Paley of Paley Properties & Investments, the building’s owner, was committed to ensuring that the structure maintained its historic character.

Aftermath of the fire that gutted the building in 2018. (Photo by Mike Myers, Hernly Associates)

“I’ve been fixing up historic buildings since I started working with my dad, and he did it before me,” Paley said. “Every building we own right now is on the historic registry. This type of rehabilitation project preserves the character of downtown, and to me, downtown Lawrence is the heart of our city.”

Much of the front of the building was boarded up afer the fire. (Photo by Mike Myers, Hernly Associates)

Working with Hernly Associates Inc., Paley Properties & Investments was able to restore the limestone façade on the back of the building, including two original windows; maintain most of the original wood floors on both the first and second floors of the building; and reinstall the first floor’s original tin ceilings. Paley also rehabilitated the Massachusetts Street storefront, restoring the transom above the front doors to let more light into the space. In addition to space for the relocated Raven Book Store on the first floor, the build now has two new one-bedroom apartments upstairs.

“We were really excited to honor both the history of The Raven and the history of this space,” said Danny Caine, owner of The Raven. “The whole concept is to merge a traditional historic storefront bookstore with a bold and exciting kids section in the back.”

The back door of the newly refinished second floor. (Photo by Mike Myers, Hernly Associates)

“Much of the end product is thanks to Danny’s vision,” Paley said. “We like to take on projects with a specific tenant in mind, and The Raven was a perfect match, combining our interest in preservation with a lot of smart thinking about what will attract retail shoppers to Lawrence.”

401 Elm Street

A key commercial corner property in North Lawrence is benefiting from a rehabilitation project begun early this year. 401 Elm, a stucco-clad 25x50-foot two-story structure with snazzy decorative window drip caps and masonry corbeling along the front-facing roofline, was built around 1870 as a broom factory. From 1920 until 1960 it was Wiley’s Grocery, then became shop space for several service industries before finally, in the past few years, facing an uncertain future. 

As the building’s use changed over time, owners didn’t destroy what they had already built; they simply reinforced what was already there and added on so that the structure retained its character. By the mid-1900s, the second floor had been converted to residential use, and a one-story shop extension added on the north side.

This mixed-use project, led by some of the same folks who received a February 2019 PIP for another mixed-use project at 1101 Massachusetts Street, will offer an open-floor commercial space at street level, with renovated residential space upstairs. 

The project has provided welcome winter work for Lawrence tradespeople. An extensively damaged roof was replaced and the living spaces have been updated for energy efficiency and increased natural light. Numerous previous repairs and alterations that did not meet today’s building codes were systematically and painstakingly addressed. 

While maintaining the longtime building footprint, massing, facade and materials, the structure will also retain its commercial/residential use in this traditionally working-class area. Close to other similar historic properties a block north, 401 Elm can now continue as a strong contributor to the neighborhood. LPA salutes all who are combining their talents to preserve this historic piece of North Lawrence’s past.

424 Indiana Street

A turn-of-the-century urban barn within easy walking distance of City Hall has a new lease on life thanks to a local couple who have experience with previous building rescues. The barn sits just behind an old farmhouse at 424 Indiana, purchased in December 2019 by Summer and Nate Wedermyer. It is one of four contiguous long-vacant properties there, and the most historic. The house at 432 Indiana is to be demolished by its new owner, and the outcomes for 420 and 418 Indiana are unsettled at this time. Summer and Nate were able to purchase 424 from longtime owner Marguerite Risley after assuring her that they would save the house. 

As they evaluated the property, saving the barn was not such an obvious choice. There was a gaping hole in the roof, the bottom sill plate and lower ends of the wall studs were toast, and a decision the Risleys had made in the mid-70s to bump out a lean-to addition on the west wall to accommodate a vehicle had severely compromised the building’s load-bearing capacity. The Wedermyers considered removing the damaged north end and rehabbing the rest, but after spending time removing debris and understanding the issues, they decided they could rehab the whole building, minus the lean-to.

The new roof and wall framing is now complete, and the Wedermyers are awaiting installation of a galvanized metal roof similar to those used on shop buildings back in the day. At floor level, getting to the damaged framing members involved removing several layers of flooring, including a concrete layer installed over a wooden layer. Once that removal was done, they poured a new concrete floor and installed a new bottom sill plate. They were able to jack up the slumping frame to straighten it (some parts of the structure were as much as 5-6 inches out of level), and cripple new studs to the existing balloon frame structure to complete the repair.

When work on the barn is complete, it will be used as shop and storage space as work shifts to the house, which is in horrible shape inside. Once the entire project is completed, the barn will be used as professional shop space and storage.

Saving the structures of this old farmstead (there is one more small utility structure on the property with a unique story to tell), will be an amazing accomplishment and a great benefit to the historic integrity of the neighborhood. This will be the second PIP award given to Summer and Nate (646 Rhode Island in March 2013), and the first barn rehab ever to receive a PIP.