LPA Announces Summer 2025 Preservation in Progress Awards

For our Summer Preservation in Progress Awards (PIPs), LPA celebrates a full historic window restoration at a Key Contributing property downtown, a special DIY project on an affordable home and a historic home that had suffered through some rough treatment but now is seeing better days ahead through the efforts of a young couple new to the neighborhood.

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645 New Hampshire
Historic Post Office

A full historic wood window restoration project (both outside and inside faces) is grabbing plenty of attention on the east end of the Liberty Hall block downtown. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, owner of the property since 2018, has embarked on a methodical, multi-year building overhaul, starting with masonry cleaning and repointing. Every wood window sash in the building is being removed and given special shop time before making the return trip for reinstallation. The company is working with the architectural firm Schwerdt Design Group in Topeka and preservation specialty contractor   Pishny Restoration Services in Lenexa to achieve the project goals.

The U.S. Post Office building, a Key Contributing structure in the state and national listed Lawrence Downtown Commercial Historic District, was built in 1906 as the first Lawrence post office not situated in rental space. A handsome Beaux Arts brick and stone building, it has a two-story brick addition to its north. It served the city until 1965, when it became home to Kansas University Continuing Education. In 2001, it became the combined newsroom for the Lawrence Journal-World, 6News and World Online.

BCBS of Kansas, based in Topeka, currently has about 1,900 employees across the state. The company has offices in 10 other Kansas communities. Current CEO Matt All fell in love with this building when it became available, and as we toured the facility with Communications Director Ashley Jones-Wisner and Facilities Manager Mitch Sexton we could see that staff shared the excitement. The extra space it provides gives the company additional room during a time of crisis, or to host employees from other locations for large meetings, with all the downtown Lawrence amenities within easy walking distance.

This first phase also includes restoration work on ornamental iron, light fixtures and masonry step structures.  Future work will move indoors, where floor finish and repair will be a priority. The company is using both federal and state tax credits for the project. We can’t wait to see the results! We may be as excited as they are.

2101 Tennessee 

2101 Tennessee (photos contributed by Josh Coulter)

The one-story home on the corner of 21st Street and Tennessee in the Centennial neighborhood has been undergoing a slow but steady transformation over the first half of this year. Unlike many projects involving what one might call “starter homes,” there are no huge additions or elaborate ornamentation designs going on here. This DIY project by Josh Coulter and Frankie Hernandez is focused on adding value mostly by putting a shine to what’s already there, rather than piling  on square footage and expensive add-ons that culminate in taking one more historic property out of the range of affordability. In fact, what got LPA’s attention was the removal of a mustard-colored metal siding material so that the new owner could prep and paint the original cedar siding that had been needlessly covered over. 

In Progress

Josh, who purchased the home in 2024, had previous experience in rehabbing existing properties. After first moving to Lawrence in 2012, he co-owned two duplexes on 22nd Terrace and rehabbed all four units.  A realtor with Keller Williams Integrity since 2019, Josh moved to Topeka in 2021 and rehabbed a home he had purchased there.

Before

This current project has involved a complete interior refresh as well. They discovered the original cedar siding while working on the mud room interior and noticed it when some paneling was removed. They continued this investigation by removing a small section of metal siding in an inconspicuous place out back and were surprised to see that the wood siding was in good condition. (Note: this isn’t always the case. They were smart to investigate first!) Once all the metal siding had been removed, only an area where the house and the garage were joined needed new siding, and a perfect match was available at McCray Lumber.

Josh and Frankie have cleaned up, painted and modernized the interior spaces and are now on the last elevation of the exterior work. The new exterior paint looks great! When they noticed a nearby home being prepared for demolition, they rescued its craftsman front door to replace their own. It has a working Art Deco antique doorbell fixture that is a real treat to operate and listen to. LPA applauds this great example of a preservation-minded DIY project.

326 Indiana
The Edmond and Christine E. Kasold House

326 Indiana: out with the old

This substantial two-and-a-half story, cross-gabled frame Queen Anne in the Pinkney neighborhood, constructed for a local grocer around 1898, encountered a rough patch in its history around the last decade or two of the 1900s. Only partially resuscitated at first for rental use, it is now being brought all the way back to its former glory by new owners Tess Frydman and Stephen Park, and neighborhood residents couldn’t be happier.

In with the new

At its worst point, this was a derelict property overgrown with volunteer trees and brush with serious maintenance issues piling up. City inspectors struggled with that owner to achieve compliance with city ordinances. It did receive an exterior paint job at some point, but the  bright turquoise color scheme left many neighbors wondering about the artistic intent. A later owner established it as a rental, cleaned the property up a bit and installed a much-needed new roof. 

Stairs and stained glass (contributed by Tess Frydman)

Tess, after living for most of a decade in Philadelphia—where she met Park—wanted to come back to Lawrence, where she had grown up. She had even attended Pinckney School just a few blocks away. Since purchasing the property late last year, the couple has been working steadily to coordinate a series of upgrades. They finished the yard cleanup and got a few loads of firewood out of it. They hired Rayer’s Bearden Stained Glass to restore original stained glass windows, had the interior repainted and refinished the floors.

Now, about that paint job. Tess and Stephan spent a lot of time choosing an alternate color scheme designed to not glow in the dark. They got some professional advice, which resulted in a few nuanced changes and confirmed the color placements. Late this spring, Tom Van Holt of River City Painting and Repairs began the big job of painting it. As the new color scheme began to predominate, the couple started receiving lots of positive feedback, especially from neighbors who had put up with the old one for years—including one who confessed she had done so by keeping her curtains closed on that side of their house. LPA is happy too and proud to offer a PIP award and our best wishes to this new Lawrence couple.

LPA Announces Spring 2025 Preservation in Progress Awards

For LPA’s Spring Preservation in Progress (PIP) Awards, we recognize a full house restoration with an added community benefit, a major old house refresh instigated by storm damage, and a new, full-length, period-specific two-story porch design.

1128 Ohio

Photo Courtesy of Hannah Bolton

Myron Feuerborn and Bill Bell. Photo Courtesy of Hannah Bolton

Hannah Bolton is immersed in a labor of loves that include a collection of family heirloom historic properties, a desire to honor her brother who lost his fight to overcome substance use disorder at age 31, and a determination to provide a significant community benefit in Douglas County.

Photos Courtes of Hannah Bolton

At 1128 Ohio, she is leading a major exterior rehab project that also includes significant interior improvements. Once that project is done, the house one door north at 1126 Ohio will receive similar treatment. Meanwhile, at 1046 New Hampshire (the parsonage house next door to the Old English Lutheran Church), a major interior refresh and new front porch is complete and the house is ready for occupancy. She has formed a non-profit, Cardinal Housing Network Inc. (cardinalhousingks.org) with a mission to provide safe, affordable housing and support services as a component for Douglas County women in various stages of substance-use recovery.

The two Ohio Street properties, owned by DMB Apartments LLC and managed by her grandparents Myron and Mary Feuerborn for years until their deaths in 2020, have been in Hannah’s family for decades. 1128 Ohio is particularly notable: it was built in 1896 for the founder of the Lawrence Public Library, Joseph S. Broughton. The family experienced another tragedy in January 2023 when Sandra Feuerborn, a third owner in the Ohio Street properties, passed unexpectedly. Following her passing, Hannah, her mother Kellee, and Diane (Bill) Bell were wondering if they should sell one of the houses and fix up the other, but when Hannah proposed her idea to use them both to provide safe housing to women in recovery, the ownership group felt it was a unique opportunity to honor their loved ones.

Photo Courtesy of Hannah Bolton

During a site visit with LPA, Hannah and her family learned about historic tax credits, and they hired Pat Watkins and Rosa Billen to document the rehabilitation process to ensure they will receive both state and federal tax credits for qualified expenses at project’s end. Additional grant money for safety features in the project has come from the Douglas County half-cent sales tax for behavioral health.

SCS Construction (Kevin Stultz, principal) is providing most of the labor, with Mike Poindexter serving as project director. The front porch and second floor of 1128 Ohio were damaged beyond repair, and old photos were used to guide their replication. Removal of interior carpet exposed original wood floors that, with some patching here and there, will look beautiful once refinished. The wood windows are being restored by Duncan Brown of Window Restoration Lawrence.

According to Hannah, there are currently five residences in Douglas County for women in the recovery process from substance use, and many who receive mental health and substance-use services in DGCO are forced to live in Topeka.  Now there will be three more housing options, and both Ohio Street houses will accept women with children. In this case, preservation of historic houses is combining with other benefits to provide a positive impact in our community.

  2216 Massachusetts

Photo Courtesy of Tom Harper

A striking two-story full-length front porch construction on this house on the east side of Massachusetts Street is certainly attracting recent attention, but new owners Jad and Kendra Hayes, who moved here from Colorado in June 2020, have actually been working on this 1912 structure for most of that time.

The two-story bungalow was constructed by Oscar D. Moore for Dr. George A. Esterly, a dentist whose office was above the former Round Corner Drugstore (now Basil Leaf restaurant) at 801 Massachusetts St. 

The Hayes have stripped interior painted trim and removed “popcorn” ceilings, carpet, wallpaper and 1970s paneling. They also have repaired plaster walls, refinished the wood floors, updated plumbing and electrical systems and installed a new roof and HVAC system. 

Last year, they decided to focus on the front porch. The original two-story stucco-clad porch had been removed in the 1970s because it had become structurally unsound. Only the brick support braces remained. The Hayes had several old photos of the porch, but weren’t certain that a faithful reproduction of it would be the best approach. They started looking online, both to scout for contractors and to see other front porch structures in older local neighborhoods for ideas. 

They found Nineteenth Century Restoration’s  Facebook page, where they learned Dan Riedemann, the company’s owner, had reconstructed Woody Guthrie’s home in Oklahoma. The home had been dismantled and stored in a barn, and Dan literally put it back together. Jad thought, “I’m a Woody Guthrie fan; that seems like someone I should talk to.” 

Riedemann was able to work with Jad and Kendra to help design and then build a new porch structure that was more to their liking and compatible with the bungalow style of the house. “Dan and his team were amazing,” Jad said, “a very energetic crew, and both Henry and Evan were very respectful. They made sure the design was period specific and matched the rest of the house.” 

We sought the opinion of LPA Emeritus board member Dennis Domer about the new porch design, and he responded with these thoughts:

“The original porch is a bit out of scale in relation to the house, somewhat fortress-like, too bulky for the house and the pillars are too big for the porch it holds. The new clustered pillars are scaled more sympathetically, more welcoming, and present a more open entry to the house. As such, the new porch is more appropriate for a laid-back two-story bungalow behind the porch.”

Jad and Kendra Hayes have done an excellent job stewarding this historic house, and the new porch is an exciting “cherry on top.” While not original, the new design may be more appropriate to the house, and will complement it for many years to come.

  637 Ohio

Jeff and Sammie Messick had a few things already stacked up on their exterior to-do list a few years ago, but when a hailstorm moved through their neighborhood, totaling their roof and exterior paint, they knew it was time for a full refresh program at the house they have lived in since 1977. Jeff, a retired architect who was a principal in the design firm HMA with Walt Hicks and Mark Stogsdill, and who had served for eight years on the Lawrence Historic Resources Commission, began developing a rehab plan appropriate for this circa-1894 property contributing to the Old West Lawrence Historic District.

Sammie Messick holds a new prefinished metal shingle.

The project’s most unique and visible aspect was the metal shingle roof, which may have been original. Their online search led them to a national firm, Berridge Roofing, who they enlisted to fabricate new prefinished shingles. Their search for an experienced installer was much shorter in distance: Tin Benders Sheet Metal, a company owned by Tim Stauch in McLouth, just north of Lawrence, had lots of metal shingle experience, particularly on commercial projects. The complete job included installation of roof decking, on-site fabrication of valleys, ridge caps and downspouts, and a new Yankee gutter system to replace the old one.

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Messick

KB Painting did the exterior painting, and their prep work exposed a number of needed carpentry repairs. Jeff even joined in to repair wood rot on some of the framing members on the screen porch out back. Failing wooden cellar doors were replaced with metal, and a failing front porch also was replaced. Finally, a longstanding drainage issue on the north side of the house was addressed by creating a slight swale, lining it with rubberized roofing material, and covering that with a heavy layer of rounded river rock to slowly percolate water away from the house.

After more than a year of work, the new roof and paint job look great, and the house is in much better overall shape than it was the night the hailstorm hit. Now Jeff and Sammie are left to contemplate damage to their front yard that they had to let go unresolved during all the construction activity. There’s always something!

LPA Announces Fall 2024 Preservation in Progress Awards

For LPA’s fall Preservation in Progress Awards, we feature two great whole-house rehabilitation projects and a repair program for an unusual two-story full-length front porch structure.

  844 Arkansas KHRI #045-3010-01726

For many years, the storybook 1930 brick-and-stucco Tudor Revival at 844 Arkansas was known by its neighbors as one of the best-kept houses on the block. However, in recent years it had experienced neglect—first as a rental and then with years of vacancy. In January, Katie Schwada and her daughter Brenna purchased the home and undertook a thorough rehabilitation program. Over the past eight months, hardly a day has gone by without contractors working at the house.

The home is part of a small subdivision created by Victor Johnson, who purchased the lots in the 800 block on the east side of Arkansas and west side of Missouri as the city began to grow from its original townsite. In 1908, Johnson built his own house at 845 Missouri. 844 and 846 Arkansas, both built in 1930, were the final residences constructed in the Johnson Block, now a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. The home was owned for several decades by the Achning family, proprietors of Achning Hardware, which operated at 822 Massachusetts from 1886 to 1968.

One of the first steps the Schwadas undertook was to remove the insidious ivy that had engulfed the northwest side of the house and damaged windows, stucco and even the foundation. (Hint to homeowners: ivy growth left unchecked on your home’s surfaces will damage your home!) The prominent chimney on the front side was tuckpointed, the original windows and entry doors were completely restored, the house was painted and new storm windows were installed.

Photo contributed by tom harper

The first-floor footprint was left intact. Ceiling tile from the 1960s was removed, walls repaired, white- and red-oak flooring was refinished and new fixtures were installed. The original trim was cleaned and painted. The first-floor bathroom (they kept the original bathtub) and kitchen were renovated while installing all new electrical—including buried electric line to the house—and plumbing. Insulation was added. Second-floor work included removing attic walls to expand living and closet space. The Schwadas also installed a bathroom on the south side. The HVAC system was replaced with a single furnace and A/C controlled by two thermostats. Dampers let the main level/lower level and upstairs temperatures be controlled separately.

Photo contributed by tom harper

The foundation needed significant repairs. The entire foundation was piered, raising the east and south corners 3½ inches and 1½ inches, respectively, on the north and west wall along the front elevation. The old concrete cellar floor was removed and dug down to provide enough space to finish the basement. The basement is now equipped with family, laundry, utility and reading rooms.

As this intensive work is now winding down, 844 Arkansas is once again one of the best-kept houses on the block. Neighbors are thrilled, and Brenna has a beautifully restored historic house in which to live. This is an outstanding example of a whole-house rehabilitation executed perfectly

925 Kentucky

When we last left James Dunn and his preferred contractor, Ryan Cecil of Cecil Construction, they were wrapping up a major front porch rehabilitation along with some interior projects at 936 Kentucky Street (the old Colonial Inn) in 2023. Apparently they still were in a front porch frame of mind, however, because now they are well underway on another porch project on a Dunn property at 925 Kentucky, right across the street.

Purchased by James and Nancy Dunn in 1985, this residential property in the Oread Historic District dates back to circa 1873, but alterations in 1903 and sometime after 1949 lent a 20th Century Revival look to the structure. The full-width two-story front porch—a unique feature in historic housing found in Lawrence—was part of the later alteration.

While the porch foundation was still solid, the first floor framing needed to be replaced, and new flooring installed. The exterior wood sheathing of the two-story columns was removed so the crew could identify and replace framing elements that had deteriorated before installing pre-primed new sheathing. The upstairs floor was found to be in good condition.

The project included construction of a new handrail and baluster system for both levels of the porch. While designing the new handrail to current railing height standards, the Cecil crew was able to create a pattern design that maintains the look of the original handrails. On the second floor, a horizontal metal pipe had been installed at one time above the old handrail to provide an extra level of fall protection that will now be unnecessary with the new rail. The pipes will be left in place as an interesting detail in the story of this house.

This is the third PIP award for the Dunn and Cecil team, all in the 900 block of Kentucky, with two of them primarily being porch projects. Exterior porches typically require more frequent maintenance than the houses they are attached to. Sometimes they can become too far gone to be reasonably brought back. Bravo to this partnership for rescuing this unique and fun porch structure.

740 Louisiana

When Silviu and Amanda Stan decided last year to leave West Coast city life and come to Lawrence to be closer to family (Amanda is the daughter of LPA members Michael Morley and Angela Candela), they purchased one of the neediest houses on one of the best blocks in the Old West neighborhood. The William McKee house, a two-story, side-gable National Folk House (circa 1873), needed a lot of work, including all new electrical and plumbing systems. Their plan was to live on one floor while working on the rest, with Silviu, who restores RVs professionally, performing a lot of the basic work while coordinating with contractors.

After their July move-in, the couple realized that the deeper they got into the work, the more they could see that the house had endured layers of make-do repairs over time, cobbled together in a patchwork fashion that demanded not a refresh but a return to square one. And by August, when the clay pipe sewer line failed and its connection broke in the alley, the couple knew it was time for Plan B. They had to move out and into a short- term rental.

Photo provided by Amanda Stan

They first had to piece together a project team and redefine the scope of work. Mike Myers of Hernly Associates helped the couple put together a good plan. As a contributing property to the Historic District, the plan needed historic review, which it passed administratively. The project was eligible for the Kansas Historic State Tax Credit (a 25% state tax credit for most of the project expenses), and attorney (and LPA vice president) Patrick Watkins was brought on to oversee the documentation and reporting requirements.

Between Mike, Patrick and Amanda’s parents, there was plenty of good advice about contractors the couple would need to hire. While Amanda was busy in her professional job as a nurse, Silviu was at the house knocking out items on his to-do list and making sure each contractor had what they needed.

Photo provided by Amanda Stan

Bost Plumbing and Good Energy Solutions have been involved throughout, while Riley Walker and Mark Burton have been key players for carpentry and wood flooring. The original windows and entry staircase remain, and all the painted interior trim that had been removed to install new wallboard is ready to reinstall. Silviu notes that while there are similarities between restoration of RVs and old houses—if you tear into something to fix one thing you will encounter four or five other things requiring attention—it’s the work to correct the framing errors from previous alterations that has been the biggest focus. Cuts in original framing members had damaged the structural integrity of the home. Seeing the framing after wall and ceiling materials were removed allowed him to understand this, and the team professionals were able to recommend fixes to make the structure solid again.

Silviu and Amanda are hoping to be back in their house by the new year, likely upstairs while some first-floor work continues. It’s been a long journey and LPA is happy to shine a light on their great work.