Warkentin House

Last updated
Warkentin House
Warkentin House.jpg
Warkentin House
Location211 East 1st Street, Newton, Kansas
Coordinates 38°2′35.97″N97°20′23.03″W / 38.0433250°N 97.3397306°W / 38.0433250; -97.3397306
Built1886
Architectural styleLate Victorian
Website Website
NRHP reference No. 70000250 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 12, 1970

The Warkentin House is a house in Newton, Kansas, United States. The home of Bernhard Warkentin and Wilhelmina Eisenmayer Warkentin, it was built between 1886 and 1887. It is listed on the Kansas Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places as a splendid example of the Victorian period in American architecture and furnishings. The Victorian house offers a glimpse into the way the Warkentins lived, with 80 percent of the original furnishings remaining. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

Bernhard Warkentin Bernhard Warkentin.jpg
Bernhard Warkentin
Wilhelmina Warkentin Wilhelmina Warkentin.jpg
Wilhelmina Warkentin

Bernhard Warkentin was born in the village of Altonau of the Molotschna Mennonite settlement in the Ukraine on June 18, 1847. In 1872, he arrived in the United States to study the country's agricultural, economic and political climate.

Wilhelmina Eisenmayer was born November 1, 1852, in Horse Prairie, Illinois. She and Bernhard were married August 12, 1875. They had two children: Edna Wella, born September 24, 1876, and Carl Orlando, born January 3, 1880.

Realizing the benefit the Mennonite farmers would be to the development of the Great Plains states, American railroad companies touted the advantages of settling in the midwestern United States. Between 1874 and 1884, about 15,000 Mennonites immigrated to America. The majority settled in Kansas. Bernhard Warkentin encouraged the immigrants to bring with them Turkey Red hard winter wheat.

In 1873, Warkentin settled in Halstead, Kansas, building Harvey County's first grist mill and his farmstead on the Little Arkansas River. In planning for his mill, Warkentin visited several milling operations throughout the Midwest; among them was Conrad Eisenmayer's mill in Summerfield, Illinois. It was there that he met Eisenmayer's daughter, Wilhelmina.

In the fall of 1874, the Kansas countryside was first sown with Turkey Red wheat, the hardy, high-yield variety that gave Kansas its enormous productivity and made the region the breadbasket of the world.

Warkentin owned mills and elevators in Newton and Halstead, Kansas, and Blackwell, Oklahoma. He was instrumental in founding the Halstead State Bank, Kansas State Bank, Bethel Deaconess Hospital, and Bethel College.

Warkentin died by accidental gunshot on a trip in the Holy Land in 1908. Wilhelmina Warkentin lived in their Newton home until her death in 1932.

Following her death, Wilhelmina left the house to the Bethel Deaconesses, who used it until 1970. At this time, ownership was transferred to a group dedicated to restoring and maintaining the house, which was also added to the National Register of Historic Places. The city assumed ownership in 1973, and continues to operate the museum and maintain the house.

Interior

Foyer

Parlor and music room

Dining room and kitchen

Bedrooms

Library

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastlake movement</span> Architectural movement

The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations. In architecture the Eastlake style or Eastlake architecture is part of the Queen Anne style of Victorian architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Breakers</span> Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, US

The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel College (Kansas)</span> United States historic place

Bethel College is a private Christian college in North Newton, Kansas. It is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Foursquare</span> Housing style

The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was plain, often incorporating handcrafted "honest" woodwork. This style incorporates elements of the Prairie School and the Craftsman styles. It is also sometimes called Transitional Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room clapboard house which was built as the home, offices and working farm of colonial Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire. It is located on the water at 375 Little Harbor Road, about two miles southeast of the center of Portsmouth. It is one of the few royal governors' residences to survive almost unchanged. The site is a New Hampshire state park, declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. Today, the New Hampshire Bureau of Historic Sites manages the site with the assistance of the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission, a group of volunteer civic and business leaders appointed by the Governor.

The Bernhard Warkentin Homestead, also known as Little River Stock Farm or Warkentin Farm, is a historic farm complex on East North Street in Halstead, Kansas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It was further declared to be a National Historic Landmark in 1990, nationally significant for its association with Bernhard Warkentin, a pivotal figure in the development and wide cultivation of durum wheat in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wythe House</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

The Wythe House is a historic house on the Palace Green in Colonial Williamsburg, in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. Built in the 1750s, it was the home of George Wythe, signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of American jurisprudence. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Michael Kohler House</span> Historic house in Wisconsin, United States

The John Michael Kohler House is an historic house listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. The house is currently a part of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs. A. W. Gridley House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Mrs. A. W. Gridley House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Prairie School home in Batavia, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conklin Mountain House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Conklin Mountain House is a historic home located at Olean in Cattaraugus County, New York. The above ground portion of the main house is a 4,500 sq. ft Second Empire style wood frame dwelling built in 1886. The front facade features a three-story tower with mansard roof and a wraparound porch. The exterior of the home features extensive overhanging eaves, decorative brackets and balustrades. The house sits on top of a 2,000 sq. ft full-height stone basement. The property also includes a 1,600 sq. ft two-story carriage house.

The Salome Sellers House is a historic house museum at 416 Sunset Road in Deer Isle, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to the 1770s, the house is locally distinctive as a well-preserved 19th-century Cape, and as the home of Salome Sellers, one of Deer Isle's longest-lived residents (1800-1909). The house has been a museum property of the Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society since 1960, and is believed to be the only house of its type in the state that is open as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The White House of the Chickasaws in Milburn, Oklahoma was built in 1895. It was designed by Dallas architect W.A. Waltham in the Queen Anne style. The house is also known as Gov. Douglas H. Johnston House, because Chickasaw Governor Douglas Hancock Johnston and his descendants resided in the mansion from 1898 to 1971 when the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the time of its construction, the house was on the north edge of the community of Emet, Oklahoma, where Johnston operated a store, but its formal street address is now 6379 E. Mansion Dr., Milburn, Oklahoma

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon P. Eggertsen Sr. House</span> Historic house in Provo, Utah, United States

The Simon Peter Eggertsen Sr. House is a historic house in Provo, Utah, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now it has been repaired, repainted, and appointed with appropriate furnishings of the times, this home very much depicts pioneer design and craftsmanship. The Simon Peter Eggertsen Sr. House was designated to the Provo City Historic Landmarks Registry on March 7, 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janelia</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Janelia or Janelia Farm is a mansion and former farm near Ashburn, Virginia, built in 1936 for artist Vinton Liddell Pickens and her husband Robert Pickens, a journalist. The farm property has become the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which surrounds the house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Oaks (Staunton, Virginia)</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

From 1868 until his death in 1899,The Oaks was the home of Major Jedediah Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss made his mark in a number of fields including mapmaking, surveying, land and coal speculation, and education. During the Civil War, Hotchkiss first served under Gen. Robert E. Lee as topographical engineer, and then joined Gen. Stonewall Jackson's staff in the same capacity, soon becoming one of the General's closest aides. His campaign maps, now housed at the Library of Congress, are considered by Civil War historians to be among the finest ever made. Hotchkiss returned to Staunton after the war ended and began speculating in land and minerals. He also lectured and wrote extensively about Virginia's geology, geography, and Civil War history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezra Meeker Mansion</span> Historic house in Washington, United States

The Meeker Mansion Museum is a historic house in Puyallup, Washington, United States. It is the second of two homes in the city which were resided in by Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meeker, the first one being a cabin on the homestead claim which Meeker purchased from Jerry Stilly in 1862. This was a one-room, 8 by 16 feet square cabin to which Meeker added a second room, doubling its size. After the move to the mansion, Meeker donated the cabin site to the city, which they turned into Pioneer Park. The wooden cabin disappeared over time. Several steel and concrete pillars outline the dimensions of the original cabin. The Baltic ivy vine, originally planted by Eliza Jane Meeker and her daughter Ella meeker (Templeton), now covers the pillars where the original cabin once stood. A statue of Ezra Meeker was placed in the park and dedicated on September 14, 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster-Redington House</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Foster-Redington House is a historic house at 8 Park Place in Waterville, Maine. Built in 1883, it is a fine example of Queen Anne architecture, supposedly the city's first example of the style. It was built by Moses Coburn Foster, a well-known builder in the state, as his private residence. Moses owned M.C. Foster & Son, general contractors and builders. An advertisement for the business lists its location as 7 Park Place, which was the home built for his son, Herbert Foster. Herbert died at 38 years old. Herbert's home is as unique as Moses' but has not been restored, but instead, turned into two apartments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathew H. Ritchey House</span> Historic home in Missouri

Mathew H. Ritchey House, also known as Mansion House and Belle Starr House, is a historic home located in Newtonia, Newton County, Missouri. It was built about 1840, and is a two-story, brick dwelling with a two-story rear wing built using slave labor. The house rests on a sandstone block foundation and has a side-gabled roof. It features a one-story front portico and interior end chimneys. Also on the property is the contributing Ritchey family cemetery, outbuildings, and a well. During the American Civil War, the site saw fighting during both the First and Second Battles of Newtonia, which required its use as a hospital after the battles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is a contributing property in the First Battle of Newtonia Historic District. The building was damaged by a tornado in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Cornelius Larson House</span> Historic house in Wisconsin, United States

The August Cornelius Larson House is a Prairie Style house built in 1911 two miles southwest of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1994 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places as one of Madison's finest Prairie Style houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Douglas House</span> United States historic place

The Walter Douglas House, in Bisbee, Arizona, was built for Walter Douglas in 1908, who was the general manager for the Phelps-Dodge Company. It was the first house built in what was then Warren, Arizona, which was Arizona's first planned community, and was the largest home in the community. Designed by the architectural firm, Trost and Trost, it is a Crafts/Mission Revival Style house. The house has 11 bedrooms, a library, a billiards room, a basement, several school rooms, six fireplaces with Grueby tile, leaded-glass windowns and maple flooring. It also has three apartments ; and 10,000 square feet (930 m2) of patio space. Throughout the years, the house has served several different purposes. Initially it was a private residence for Douglas. Then it was carved into apartments and at one point served as a lodge. In the late 1900s it was renovated as a private residence once again.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Frey, Chad. "Warkentin House repairs moving forward". Newton Kansan. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  3. Newton Kansan. "Kansas A to Z: 'H' is for Warkentin House". The Garden City Telegram. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  4. "Warkentin, Bernhard, Residence". Kansas Historic Resources Inventory. Retrieved 2021-08-28.