825 Exchange Street, Emporia, Kansas
In 2016, I toured 825 Exchange Street, a few blocks from the Cross House. For reasons I no longer recall, I never posted the images I took. Bad Ross. The east side is right. On the first floor is the foyer window, next, kinda low, is the 1/2 bath window, next are the two bedroom windows. Above is the stair window, adjacent is for the petite bedroom.
I believe the house to be designed by architect Charles W. Squires. He designed the Cross House, and I did a post about him.
Note how the windows have this unique curvaceous trim under. I did a post about this. This curvaceous trim…and other signatures…confirm 825 as almost certainly a Squires design.
Squires adored eccentricity. For example: note the beefy, stout brick columns. Surely they can hold the porch roof, right? But Squires added to the visual dram by ALSO adding arches with supporting pilasters. Structurally, there is zero reasons for this but it sure looks good. Note another Squires signature: an oval window.
The entry hall.
The oval window.
Looking north. Note the two “receiving” benches. The window looks like…
…this.
The foyer light. Fabulous. The house was built in 1910. Most of the lighting I will show may well be original.
Beveled and leaded glass over the front door. The sidelights are also beveled glass.
Entry door hardware. I have never seen this before. Glorious.
Directly across from the entry door is the staircase. This opening and its trim does not look right to me and I assume it is not original.
And what is this??????
Now this looks original.
On the 5th step are these spectacular doors.
Yep, spectacular. But why? To retain heat? Or for privacy?
To the left of the stair, is a small, lovely room with two north-facing windows. Was this a bedroom? It also has a half-bath under the stair. The sconces may be original.
.
The south middle room is the dining room and it features a delicious…
…built-in buffet with stained-glass above, the latter lighted…
….from inside the kitchen.
Lower buffet.
More fabulous. The shades all match. Incredible.
I am repeating this image so you can note the leaded window just through the open door, right.
The window was once in the Butler’s pantry. This is now part of the kitchen. Sigh.
From the dining room, one can open double pockets door into the south front parlor. The parlor can also be accessed from the foyer.
Above is this OMG ceiling, and…
…OMG light with four matching wheel-cut globes!
Too exquisite. I love the blue ribbon.
As noted, the original Butler’s Pantry and kitchen are, sadly, long lost. But…hey!…who doesn’t like a hot-pink counter?
The upper stair hall retains this wonderful stenciling.
And a not-original 1930s chandelier.
The second floor is surprisingly small. At the top of the stair is a very petite bedroom with a north-facing window and a door to Narnia.
Petite room light. The shades are new.
The largest 2nd-floor room faces south and is the bedroom. And what happened to its original ceiling light?
Is this it, hanging on a wall on the back porch?
In the bedroom is this window, stealing light from the stair hall. Cool.
The former 2nd-floor porch, facing east. Was this originally open? There is also a full bath on the floor but tragically updated.
Behind the house is incredible treasure beyond compare: an almost entirely original garage. The yard side.
The alley side. You can drive your car right through.
The wall light has its own house! I like how the budget for the garage equaled that of the house. Nice.
825 is one of the finest houses in Emporia, yet people drive by it daily and pay it no mind.
I would love somebody to lavish money and attention on this rare treasure. But the guiding principle should be to restore rather than renovate.
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I walked by this house, along with the Cross House, daily on my way to WAW Elementary kindergarten – 6th grade back in the 60’s. While the Cross House was already looking sad back then, THIS home was immaculate and the front yard was always gorgeous. The lady who lived there was frequently sitting on the front porch as we made our way to school in the mornings and on our way home in the afternoons. Maybe she enjoyed watching the parade of neighborhood kids, maybe she enjoyed being outside enjoying the fresh air. But since her yard was so beautiful, in our minds she was out there watching, making darned sure no kid trampled through her lawn!! We could be chasing around both on and off of the sidewalk, but when we got to her property, we fell into order. I wish I could say it was out of respect for her hard work, but it was just pure fear! Thank you for bringing back a childhood memory by sharing this house!! I hope someone has brought it back to it’s glory???
Oh, this is my dream house! Even built in 1910! Thanks for the lovely photos- better late than never. I went to street view on Google maps and am entranced by the somewhat vacant lot next door at 831 Exchange. What was there with the beautiful stone porch and foundation and equally lovely stone wall in the back yard?
Yes, restoration only. Wonder what Squires’ 825 kitchen looked like? Emporia has so many lovely homes. So grateful for all you’re doing to restore the beauty of the Cross House for future generations!
What a great house. While I understand the need for a ceiling fan I would so restore that original fixture and so glad they kept it. Shades can be had. I mini-split combo HVAC could be installed to negate the need for the ceiling fan. I’ll be putting several in my house before th Federal rebates expire in 2033.
I have a fixture similar to that dining room fixture in my dining room. It is NOT original to the house. There was only one, possibly original fixture and it was broken between when I did my final walk thru and when I took possession of the house. I bought my fixture on eBay. It had no shades and the sockets and wiring were untrustworthy but it id did have all of the chains, clamps and canopy. I completely rewired it and had to replace the sockets. I found a nice central shade and some complementary shades for the outer pendants. I love it. It may not be original to my house but it is large enough to be in balance with the size of the room. I didn’t do as good a job as you would have but it works and it’s mine and I did it myself. I put a ceiling medallion on the ceiling too. I think mine is either a 16″ or 18″ dome shade and it has some original paint. I found an even larger shade for my library and used a fixture from Home Depot that worked perfectly. They may not be 1922 but for me, close enough, plus I like the look.
Yes, above all restore as much as you can. When I first started looking for a house I wanted one that had not been renovated. I think I got lucky. These days all of the older homes seem to be stripped of all of their original charm, “updated” for sale because apparently the thought is that people want an “updated” bathroom, kitchen, etc or they won’t buy the house. I got fairly lucky in that my house wasn’t too bastardized. All of the original light fixtures were gone and there was horrible, HORRIBLE Congoleum in the bathroom and kitchen but at least those rooms had the original 1949 cabinets and sinks, tub, etc. I did have to rip out horrible, HORRIBLE carpeting and the original hardwood floors are full of staples but I did have them refinished. There was a bad patch job where the dining room window was made into a bay window in 1949 but I had a built in sideboard put in there to cover the floor. What I did repair I tried to be true to either the 1949 bathroom and kitchen or the 1922 rest of the house. I do have the original front door and all of the original windows.
Today I baby stepped™ the fence section and got it replaced enough so the yard is secure but not done. I am one board short, plus it needs to be repainted. But a huge step today. I feel good about it.
What a gorgeous bungalow!
I lived there from like 2000 to 2003 or 2004. Glad to see that tiny bedroom was still rocking those vibrant green walls, was the pink stencil still along the top towards the ceiling? I painted that room that color, and tbe stenciling. Its said that the original owner, Dr Black, his son was crushed in a car accident. Its verified that Dr Black lived there in newspaper records. Did you see the refinshed floors on the 2nd story of the Carriage house, took us two weeks to sand and stain them. Was the kerosene furnace still up there? We also had the original cast iron tub set up in the basement at one point. Lots of memories, kinda bittersweet.