Historic homes open next weekend
Special to The Gazette
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Historic homes in Emporia will have their doors open next weekend for the annual Lyon County Historical Society’s Homes Tour. This year promises a variety of homes that each come with their own unique sense of style and flair.
There are four homes on the tour this year:
• Fred L. Fleeker house, 1415 Washington St.;
• Stephen Rich/Reese Hughes house, 902 Market St.;
• Albert H. Gufler mansion, 612 W. 12th Ave.;
• Howe House and Welsh Farmstead, 315 E. Logan Ave.; and
• H.W. Brinkman - Harrison Parkman - C. Edward Gray House, 917 State St.
Each home will be open from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Dec. 6 and 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 7. Tickets cost $8 per person in advance or $10 per person at the door. Tickets may be purchased at Lyon County Historical Museum and Archives, 118 E. Sixth Ave.; Plum Bazaar, 615 Commercial St., or Town Crier, 716 Commercial St.
• • •
A one-story bungalow style home, the Fred L. Fleeker house was built by Eli R. Parker about 1925 or 1926. Parker was a carpenter by trade and built other homes in Emporia and the surrounding area. In 1929 the property became the home of Fred L. Fleeker, Jr. and his family. Fleeker was an Emporia city fireman from 1924-1951. The Fleeker family retained the residence until the mid 1960s. It was then sold to Dorothy McCoy, who worked as a stenographer for the Santa Fe railroad. She lived in the home for several years until William Beitz bought it. Maxine Gasso and Curt Kinzie have made it their home for nearly 30 years.
The house reflects the style of architecture prevalent in the late 1920’s of middle class home owners in the United States. The rooms in the house retain their original oak hardwood floors and painted Colonial style woodwork.
• • •
David Sparks lives in the Stephen Rich/Reese Hughes house, built about 1925.
Rich was in the coal business in Emporia for 38 years being the founder and owner of Rich Coal Co. He was the son of Richard Rich who came to Lyon County in 1860 among the first students to attend Emporia State University then known as the Normal school. Rich was active in the development of Emporia. He was a member of the city council and campaigned for a new sanitary sewer system in 1901.
Rich was born in Indiana in 1856 and died at his home at the age of 93 in 1949.
The home was sold to Reese Hughes about 1952. Hughes was a retired rural mail carrier for many years. Following his death in 1961 the house was divided into three apartments until it was purchased by Thomas Rees and his wife who restored the home to a single family home in 2007. Sparks purchased the home upon its renovation.
Upon entering the house there is a large living-dining area to the right and a smaller family room to the left. At the back of the house is a guest bedroom. Original storage space is found in the hallway. An open stairs leads to the sun porch which has been enclosed and creates and office-bedroom space. Another set of stairs leads to the top floor, which has been renovated into a master bedroom suite with multiple storage units.
• • •
The Albert H. Gufler Mansion is shown courtesy of Re/Max Select Realtors. It is one of Emporia’s finest mansions built on 12th Avenue in the early 1900s. Albert Gufler was one of Emporia’s leading businessmen and civic leaders for many years. He was manager of the Theodore Poehler Mercantile Co. branch in Emporia.
Gufler came to Emporia from Lawrence in 1900 to manage the branch company establish by Poehler in 1900. Other branches were located in Lawrence and Topeka. Gufler climbed the ladder of success by working for Poehler in Lawrence. As the business grew so did Gufler’s involvement in the development of Emporia.
He was involved in the Old Commercial club, the Chamber of Commerce and almost every civic organization in the city and throughout the state. He married Mary Hoffmans in 1899 whom he met in Burlington while working as a salesman for Poehler. He was such a successful manager and business man that in 1915 he employed Henry Brinkman, Emporia architect, to design the home. Henry Kempker was the contractor to construct the large residence for the Gufler family. Brinkman designed a home in the Southern Colonial style with a wide terrace wall into which extends a circular octagon porch with Corinthian stone columns.
The home is built of Greendale (Ohio) rag brick trimmed with Algonite stone and Spanish red-tiled roof. A pergola is located on the east side the house and a garage is on the rear west end of the property. Front walk posts and front and rear driveway posts are on the west. The driveway leads through a porte-cochere on the west. The house was completed in 1916.
The Guflers lived in the grand home until 1946 when it was sold to Kappa Sigma Epsilon Student-Alumni Association, Inc. To many Emporia residents, the house is known as the Gufler Mansion or the TKE house. The fraternity owned the house until the late 1970s when it was sold to the Donelson family. They lived in the home for several years while attempting to restore the house to a single family residence. The house was then sold to the Peterson family and several years ago was purchased by Steve Spencer and his wife who did major renovations on the house to return it to its original grandeur. The current homeowners live out-of-state and have allowed the mansion to be on the holiday tour through REMAX realtors.
Upon entering the house one is immediately drawn to the grand staircase in the hallway which leads to the second floor. To the right of the hallway is the living room and sun porch. Behind the living room is the office-library. To the left of the hallway is the sitting room and dining room and kitchen. The second floor contains the bedrooms and bathrooms. The third floor was a ballroom and later converted into an apartment. The garage is also a small apartment.
• • •
The Howe House and Welsh Farmstead dates to the 1860s and was occupied for 140 years by three generations of the Howe family. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Built in 1867 by Richard Howe, a Welsh immigrant stonemason, the site holds a unique place in the history of Emporia and the surrounding area. Begun before the beginning of the Civil War, it stands as a testament to the early Welsh settlers.
The homestead remains complete as it was originally platted, and was the property of three generations of the same family until it was willed to the Lyon County Historical Society in 1995 by Sarah Howe, the granddaughter of Richard Howe. This unique house is one of Emporia’s oldest homes. Richard Howe and Sarah, his wife, were among the first of many Welsh settlers in the Cottonwood River Valley. The Howes were leaders in the Welsh community, and their home served as a gathering place for their fellow countrymen.
• • •
The H.W. Brinkman - Harrison Parkman - C. Edward Gray House at 917 State St. is a stately red brick house was designed and built by Emporia architect Henry Brinkman and his wife as their home.
Brinkman, an Emporia architect, designed many churches public buildings and residences throughout the state. Completed in the fall of 1913, the three-story house features a dramatic center hall and staircase. The stairwell landing features a stained and leaded glass window which opens onto a second story porch. Mahogany woodwork and oak floors are used throughout the house. The living room features a grand fireplace and mantle.
The Brinkmans sold the house in 1916 to Bertha Newman Sprague, daughter of George Newman, owner of the former Newman’s Department Store. She sold the house in 1921 to Harrison Parkman, one-time Emporia postmaster, publisher of the Emporia Times newspaper and politician. Harrison and his wife, Mary, were active in state and national Democratic affairs during the 1930s. They continued to make Emporia their home while Mr. Parkman was purchasing agent for the U.S. Post Office in Washington D.C., and Mrs. Parkman was Kansas director of the Women’s and Professional division of the WPA in Topeka.
In 1938, the house was sold to local contractor C. Edward Gray and his wife, Edith. Gray was involved in the construction of many state highway projects including roads and bridges. It remained in the Gray family until 1978.
Since 1978, it has been owned by several families each adding to its renovation without altering the original lines or the airy open ambience of the original house. It now is owned by Alex and Vietta Partridge.
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