Likely built in the 1870’s, this surprisingly small Second Empire style house definitely thinks big as it displays details more typical of a house five times its size. Built of native stone in the Kansas vernacular, the house has languished for years, appearing to receive some sporadic maintenance but never really showing significant signs of improvement.
The house appears to have just two rooms. No staircase is visible to connect with the second floor (which may simply be attic space as it appears to have only minimal potential headroom).
The structure’s contradictions make it intriguing: small but grand, refined yet crude. The details are fascinating and suggest that the house may have been built with the intent to expand it on each side, possibly in the same way that the house at Cottonwood Ranch evolved — with a perpendicular wing at each end of the central core. Let’s take a closer look.
The façade is undeniably imposing. The mansard roof seems too small for the house; it fails to fully cover the exterior walls and requires an additional shallow slope at the base to do so. I’ve seen this done before, but it is not common.
A two-paned transom allows the doorway to be consistent in height with the flanking windows. The door, with its two arched panels, is undoubtedly original.
An examination of the masonry below the pilasters supporting the segmental arches reveals two different techniques: The window at left shows plinths below the pilasters while those of the door and other window are supported by shallow corbels. Why?
I suspect that the original intent was to have the door at the left (note that the left window sill has been done in three sections while the window at right has a continuous sill). Perhaps a change was made after construction had begun and the door was centered instead.
The keystones each feature an acorn in bas-relief. Wavy glass in the window sash appears to be original. Note the chamfered corners of the pilasters flanking the window.
When viewed from either side, the more utilitarian masonry of the ends is evident. An original doorway is seen at left.
These quoins are purely ornamental and serve no structural purpose… another indication that the house may have been built with the intention of future expansion.
The view of the southwest corner reveals three different roofing materials and far less ornamental stone work. Note that the doorway has no transom and its head is lower than that of the windows. This may suggest that the opening was intended to be on the interior in the future. Image courtesy Google Street View.
The north wall shows indications that an addition had been attached at some time in the past, likely built of wood. The window and door openings appear to be original.
Bonus feature! To the left may be seen a small structure, presumably built as a gas station, which recently received a conscientious makeover which was surprisingly true to the original design, a mix of Mission and Spanish Eclectic influences.
This is how the former gas station appeared in 2014… quite a transformation! A later addition has been shed and original details have been reinstated. Very few buildings in the region receive such thoughtful attention. Image courtesy Google Street View.
An older Street View image shows a sidewalk leading to the suspected original door location.
Just a guess, but I think that this was just the first part of a house that was planned to be much bigger (but never was expanded). As for your first question, I don’t see a word on the roof… not sure what you are looking at.
1. more pix of gas station
2. it doesn’t appear anyone lives there although lawn is mowed. I would love to see the interior because
3. I am not sure I agree with your assessment of the second floor. why would you put 5 dormers in a space hard to get to that you weren’t using and that gave no light to the downstairs unless there is no second floor.
4. maybe it’s just worn shingles but pics 2 and 6 appear to have letters between the dormers if you expand the picture. I mention this as some businesses especially farms on busy roads in my area put ads on the roof when they reshingled with asphalt shingles. “Blanchard Bros. Farm and Dairy” was one but there were others.
I talked with someone in that town recently and asked about this house. I was told that there is indeed a second floor which contains two bedrooms. The staircase apparently runs along the back wall, but I could see no trace of a stair years ago when looking in the window of the empty house.
What a fascinating building. I love the acorn bas relief on the keystones. Do you think it is possible it originally was meant to serve a more public purpose other than a dwelling (don’t know what, a mini library, a small bank, something like that)? It would explain is imposing aspirations, but I wouldn’t know enough about the planning of public buildings back then to assess whether that is plausible. Hopefully someone is able to restore it more thoroughly, or at least preserve it. It has a lot of character, and possibly an interesting history.
It certainly deserves a thorough restoration, but that is probably not too likely given its locale. Possible, but not likely. Because the house sits in a residential area a good distance from the downtown core of its small town, I feel fairly certain that its use has always been residential. It’s grand enough to be a public building, though! I’ve been keeping my eye on it for years but nothing ever seems to change much.
That is quite an interesting place. So small and yet so massive. I wonder if there were even considerations of adding a second story. The comparatively simple and slender roof doesn’t quite match the bulk of the stone walls.
The mismatched plinth by the door and window does look like a change. It looks awkward, but it guess chiseling out thr joints to move the lintels would have been a lot more work, and the spandrel panels wouldn’t really have been able to be moved anyway.
Lastly, the mansard slope that comes down within the plane of the walls just doesn’t look right, even if there was precedent. It strikes me similar to modern houses with poorly-planned brick veneer that sticks out from soffit or frieze boards.
The roof bothers me, too… like you said, it just doesn’t look right. Maybe it was designed that way to better facilitate a tear-off for a future full second story? I found an old image on Google Street View which shows a sidewalk leading to the window on the left… more indication that this window was once a doorway. Maybe the change was made more recently than I would have guessed. I just added the photo to the end of this post.
why is there a word on the roof and what does it say?
and any clue as to all this incredible fancy detail on a house otherwise undistinguished?
Just a guess, but I think that this was just the first part of a house that was planned to be much bigger (but never was expanded). As for your first question, I don’t see a word on the roof… not sure what you are looking at.
1. more pix of gas station
2. it doesn’t appear anyone lives there although lawn is mowed. I would love to see the interior because
3. I am not sure I agree with your assessment of the second floor. why would you put 5 dormers in a space hard to get to that you weren’t using and that gave no light to the downstairs unless there is no second floor.
4. maybe it’s just worn shingles but pics 2 and 6 appear to have letters between the dormers if you expand the picture. I mention this as some businesses especially farms on busy roads in my area put ads on the roof when they reshingled with asphalt shingles. “Blanchard Bros. Farm and Dairy” was one but there were others.
I talked with someone in that town recently and asked about this house. I was told that there is indeed a second floor which contains two bedrooms. The staircase apparently runs along the back wall, but I could see no trace of a stair years ago when looking in the window of the empty house.
What a fascinating building. I love the acorn bas relief on the keystones. Do you think it is possible it originally was meant to serve a more public purpose other than a dwelling (don’t know what, a mini library, a small bank, something like that)? It would explain is imposing aspirations, but I wouldn’t know enough about the planning of public buildings back then to assess whether that is plausible. Hopefully someone is able to restore it more thoroughly, or at least preserve it. It has a lot of character, and possibly an interesting history.
It certainly deserves a thorough restoration, but that is probably not too likely given its locale. Possible, but not likely. Because the house sits in a residential area a good distance from the downtown core of its small town, I feel fairly certain that its use has always been residential. It’s grand enough to be a public building, though! I’ve been keeping my eye on it for years but nothing ever seems to change much.
That is quite an interesting place. So small and yet so massive. I wonder if there were even considerations of adding a second story. The comparatively simple and slender roof doesn’t quite match the bulk of the stone walls.
The mismatched plinth by the door and window does look like a change. It looks awkward, but it guess chiseling out thr joints to move the lintels would have been a lot more work, and the spandrel panels wouldn’t really have been able to be moved anyway.
Lastly, the mansard slope that comes down within the plane of the walls just doesn’t look right, even if there was precedent. It strikes me similar to modern houses with poorly-planned brick veneer that sticks out from soffit or frieze boards.
The roof bothers me, too… like you said, it just doesn’t look right. Maybe it was designed that way to better facilitate a tear-off for a future full second story? I found an old image on Google Street View which shows a sidewalk leading to the window on the left… more indication that this window was once a doorway. Maybe the change was made more recently than I would have guessed. I just added the photo to the end of this post.