After selling Manonash V in Mexico, we found ourselves, well… homeless in the middle of a really cold winter. So, what better adventure than to travel 30,000 miles in three months, viewing almost 50 historic fixer-upper homes across 18 states, from Illinois to Georgia. We toured a lot of terrifying shacks in less-than-desirable locations, but we kept coming back to a home that was being sold by the historic Wentworth College in Lexington, MO that had closed and sell it’s assets, including a home that had served for decades as professor housing (before eventually being converted to mainly storage purposes).
The house has quite the history; originally built in 1849 by a wealthy local businessman who intentionally burned it down during the Civil War when confederate snipers took positions upstairs during the Battle of Lexington. Rebuilt in the late 1860’s and passed down through the family until becoming campus housing decades ago. (More on the history later – complete with a letter from Abraham Lincoln!)
The Good: History and heft! This beautiful girl is six-bricks thick and full of charm – from the curved staircase in the formal foyer to the four fireplaces and two kitchens. (Plus, the previous owner just put on a brand new roof and added a new HVAC system!)
The Quirky: Sloping floors and slanted doorways from the settling of the central quadruple chimney over the last 150+ years. Plus, some deferred masonry, plaster, and paint maintenance – DIY! Oh, and the porch is leaning due to a compressed foot (no biggie)
The Bad: The demon (squirrel or cat) that keeps finding a way into the basement and up an interior wall to the attic. I’ll get you, my pretty!
The Favorites: The carriage house, definitely. Oh, and the inlaid floors in the dining room taken from the neighbor former home of the founder of the Pony Express.
THE PRICE: We’ll never tell. (But, let’s just say she cost less than the down payment on our last house on the West Coast.)
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