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A.W. Oliver Residence; Wichita, KS
Drawing of the Albert W. Oliver residence at 305 North Emporia in Wichita, KS. This home was designed and built by William Henry Sternberg of Wichita, Kansas (1832 - 1906). This drawing appeared in the Wichita Journal of Commerce in Novemeber 1887, published by the Wichita Board of Trade. The large number of beautiful and elegant homes going up in Wichita, principally being designed and erected by W.H. Sternberg was not without notice. The Board of Trade pointed to this fact and proclaimed in the Journal,
"the large number of fine residences that have been erected [in Wichita], make it
THE CITY OF BEAUTIFUL HOMES".
The Wichita Journal of Commerce went to to state, "Many of her [Wichita's] wealthy citizens [in the year 1887] built ELEGANT PRIVATE RESIDENCES of brick and stone, beautiful in architectural design, some costing as high as $75,000, and many from $20,000 - $30,000, making a total of about $8,000,000 put into this class of buildings". Many, if not most of these homes were designed and built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). Especially with regard to upscale homes, W.H. Sternberg was well-known throughout the area and was the preferred designer and builder.
This high-quality veneered brick residence was selected (in 1887) as one of the ten most beautiful homes in Wichita - which all ten were collectively put together in a promotional piece by the Board of Trade (see photostream for the "Fabulous Ten"). Of the ten homes in the Fabulous Ten promotional flyer, most of them are confirmed to have been designed and built by W.H. Sternberg.
Undoubtedly mortar lines on this residence were extremely thin - requiring highly skilled brick layers. Other high-end Sternberg-built brick homes (such as the Aley Mansion) have extremely thin mortar lines. Sternberg was well-known for employing workers "of the highest skill level" - which allowed him to excel over the competition with features such as very thin, upscale mortar lines, highly corbelled chimneys and other decorative brickwork.
Among some of the more common Sternberg design elements on this elegant home are: a nouveau Mansard roof, a variety of differently styled dormers which include at least one decorative (vs. functional) porch on the 3rd level, ornately corbelled chimney flues with chimney crickets, corbelled brick work at the roof line of the second story (also seen on other high-end homes as well as commercial structures and churches), two-story bay windows, fancy millwork on the porches and a variety of pitches and angles ot the roof line. Unlike some of Sternberg's other roof designs which had steeply pitched roofs (and hence small angular spaces near the walls), this one had a large and open third floor - allowing more usable space on the third floor, but it's doubtful that this area was finished at the time and used as livable space, or even as a ballroom. Interestingly the Mansard roof was not topped with a flat roof, but instead was topped with a lower pitched hip roof - a diversion from traditional Mansard style.
Mr. Oliver was a partner in the Oliver & Imboden mills (a large flour mill). W.H. Sternberg also built a fine residence for Hiram Imboden as well as a commercial mill for them. It was not unusual for business persons to turn to Sternberg for substantially all of their building needs (both commercial and personal) and in several other cases (for example the Bitting Brothers Peter Getto, Kos Harris and others) it's known that Sternberg designed and built virtually all (if not all) of their commercial properties and personal homes, too.
The Oliver & Imboden factory milled a large amount of wheat (able to produce up to 250 barrels of flour per day) coming in from all over the southwest United States including southern Colorado and what is now New Mexico and Arizona (but at the time - in 1884 - New Mexico and Arizona were not yet states).
This lovely home was torn down to make way for commercial development (including a parking lot)! They just don't build 'em like this any more.
Your thoughts, comments, ideas and/or additional information about this photo and/or this place are always welcome and appreciated!!
A.W. Oliver Residence; Wichita, KS
Drawing of the Albert W. Oliver residence at 305 North Emporia in Wichita, KS. This home was designed and built by William Henry Sternberg of Wichita, Kansas (1832 - 1906). This drawing appeared in the Wichita Journal of Commerce in Novemeber 1887, published by the Wichita Board of Trade. The large number of beautiful and elegant homes going up in Wichita, principally being designed and erected by W.H. Sternberg was not without notice. The Board of Trade pointed to this fact and proclaimed in the Journal,
"the large number of fine residences that have been erected [in Wichita], make it
THE CITY OF BEAUTIFUL HOMES".
The Wichita Journal of Commerce went to to state, "Many of her [Wichita's] wealthy citizens [in the year 1887] built ELEGANT PRIVATE RESIDENCES of brick and stone, beautiful in architectural design, some costing as high as $75,000, and many from $20,000 - $30,000, making a total of about $8,000,000 put into this class of buildings". Many, if not most of these homes were designed and built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). Especially with regard to upscale homes, W.H. Sternberg was well-known throughout the area and was the preferred designer and builder.
This high-quality veneered brick residence was selected (in 1887) as one of the ten most beautiful homes in Wichita - which all ten were collectively put together in a promotional piece by the Board of Trade (see photostream for the "Fabulous Ten"). Of the ten homes in the Fabulous Ten promotional flyer, most of them are confirmed to have been designed and built by W.H. Sternberg.
Undoubtedly mortar lines on this residence were extremely thin - requiring highly skilled brick layers. Other high-end Sternberg-built brick homes (such as the Aley Mansion) have extremely thin mortar lines. Sternberg was well-known for employing workers "of the highest skill level" - which allowed him to excel over the competition with features such as very thin, upscale mortar lines, highly corbelled chimneys and other decorative brickwork.
Among some of the more common Sternberg design elements on this elegant home are: a nouveau Mansard roof, a variety of differently styled dormers which include at least one decorative (vs. functional) porch on the 3rd level, ornately corbelled chimney flues with chimney crickets, corbelled brick work at the roof line of the second story (also seen on other high-end homes as well as commercial structures and churches), two-story bay windows, fancy millwork on the porches and a variety of pitches and angles ot the roof line. Unlike some of Sternberg's other roof designs which had steeply pitched roofs (and hence small angular spaces near the walls), this one had a large and open third floor - allowing more usable space on the third floor, but it's doubtful that this area was finished at the time and used as livable space, or even as a ballroom. Interestingly the Mansard roof was not topped with a flat roof, but instead was topped with a lower pitched hip roof - a diversion from traditional Mansard style.
Mr. Oliver was a partner in the Oliver & Imboden mills (a large flour mill). W.H. Sternberg also built a fine residence for Hiram Imboden as well as a commercial mill for them. It was not unusual for business persons to turn to Sternberg for substantially all of their building needs (both commercial and personal) and in several other cases (for example the Bitting Brothers Peter Getto, Kos Harris and others) it's known that Sternberg designed and built virtually all (if not all) of their commercial properties and personal homes, too.
The Oliver & Imboden factory milled a large amount of wheat (able to produce up to 250 barrels of flour per day) coming in from all over the southwest United States including southern Colorado and what is now New Mexico and Arizona (but at the time - in 1884 - New Mexico and Arizona were not yet states).
This lovely home was torn down to make way for commercial development (including a parking lot)! They just don't build 'em like this any more.
Your thoughts, comments, ideas and/or additional information about this photo and/or this place are always welcome and appreciated!!