Ferguson ‘dream’ house gives glimpse of plush past
By Micki Haller
Senior I editor
SPACIOUS! 4 BR, 3 bath, full
basement with rec room, four
fireplaces, mahogany trim on
first floor, ballroom and ser
vants' quarters on third. Near
Capitol and UNL campus.
This dream home at 700 S.
16 St. is not for sale. In
stead, the Ferguson House
is owned by the state and admini
stered by the State Historical Soci
ety.
The house, a beautiful example
of the Second Renaissance Revival
style, can be toured. Built from
1909 to 1911, the house is made of
concrete and steel and is sturdy,
said Dave Zcphicr, the house’s
supervisor.
The house is loaded with carved
wooden trim, marble w-indowsills,
stained-glass windows and other
architectural frills of the era. It
boasts all the modern conven
iences: electricity, plumbing, an
intercom system, a central vacuum
cleaning system and even a gas
lighting backup in case the electric
ity goes out.
The decor is simply sensuous.
The silk damask wallpaper in the
dining room is original. The house
has smoothly polished wood floors,
plush carpets, della Robbia mold
ing on the ceiling and ornate furni
ture from the 1920s.
The furniture is not original. It
came from the historical society’s
collections department.
Included in the furniture is a
stunning reproduction of a Louis
XVI desk. The brass-trimmed table
is a work of art.
The lour shows guests through
the living room, inning room and
library of the first floor and then up
to the second-floor bedrooms and
bathrooms.
The master bedroom is con
nected to a summer sleeping porch
and two bathrooms. It has a marble
fireplace. One of the bathrooms is
huge. Filled with white porcelain, it
contains an intercom phone to call
See HOUSE on 11
Kathi DeBoer
University of Nebraska •
Second Team Volleyball •
Physical Educ. Major •
3 43 GPA •
Senior •
Hometown: Firth, NE •
I i
Virginia Stahr J
University of Nebraska •
First Team Volleyball •
Elementary Educ. Major •
3 91 GPA •
Sophomore •
Hometown: Waco, NE •
Congratulations to the GTE Academic All-Americans.®
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Kennard house recreates
Nebraska in the 1870s
By Jim Hanna
Staff Reporter_
"If you ask me, this old stuff is
pretty neat.” —Anonymous observer
On my trip to the Nebraska
Statehood Memorial, the
Thomas P. Kennard House, I
ran into the above anonymous ob
server who offered his insight as to
what makes the old house interesting.
And he was right. It was pretty
neat.
The Kennard House, 1627 H St., is
believed to be the oldest structure in
the Lincoln area. It was built in 1869
by Kennard, Nebraska’s secretary of
state at the time.
It sti II stands today, as a monument
to Lincoln’s founding fathers, David
Butler, John Gillespie and Kennard.
Though all the furniture and fix
tures in the house arc replicas (save a
lone portrait of Kennard), the house
captures the feeling of the late 1800s.
The house was remodeled during
the 1960s, and great effort was made
to recreate the home of a moderately
well-to-do family of the late 1870s.
The restoration, however, was not
designed as a memorial to any spe
cific city, family or individual but
rather to Nebraska’s statehood. Also,
attempts were made to use furniture
and other items which formerly be
longed to early Nebraska statesmen
or have other early Nebraska associa
tions.
The house is rather small. It con
tains a front parlor, dining room,
kitchen and library on the first floor
and two bedrooms, a museum display
room and a curator’s office upstairs.
The kitchen, dining room and
some of the bedrooms have been relo
cated to different rooms, primarily
because one wing of the house was
removed in 1923. But the mood of
these rooms has been effectively rec
reated.
Perhaps the most interesting room
is the library. In its day, the library
was a man’s room. There were no
women or children allowed. The li
brary was for the man of the house to
unwind and relax after a grueling day.
It is furnished with, among other
things, a desk of former Gov. David
Butler, a bookcase from former Gov.
James W. Dawes’ family and the fire
place from the razed home of former
Gov. Arthur J. Weaver. The fireplace
is cast iron painted to resemble
marble. An exotic spittoon with a
porcelain interior is a nice touch that
I found particularly thrilling.
I was also fascinated by the light
ing fixtures. All light was originally
produced by kerosene. The lights
were attached to springs that allowed
them to be pulled down for mainte
nance. The original light fixtures
remain, though they are now lit by
electricity. The light produced is an
approximation of how much would
have been produced by kerosene.
Unfortunately, some of the lighLs
have those tacky bulbs shaped like
flames, and I found them a distraction
from my escapade into the past.
Overall, I found the Kennard
House extremely interesting and an
effective reflection of early Ne
braska.
I was also impressed with the two
guides who showed me around the
house. Bill Hansen and Julie Flott
were remarkably knowledgeable
about the house’s history, and they
were a pleasure to talk with. A beau
tiful house like this would not be as
interesting without intelligent guides
like Bill and Julie to augment the
visit.
The house is open for tours Tues
day through Saturday from 9 a.m. to
noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays
from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Admission is $1
for adults, 25 cents for children.
