A Remarkable House In Wichita

   Every so often I stumble across a remarkable home that has fallen in a state of disrepair. Usually, these homes are found in areas of the country that are in decline, but recently I stumbled across one that was in an area with a healthy, broad-based economy with a low-cost of living.

   So I was mystified to see this home in such a sorry state, needing far more than a coat of paint to put a shine to her. 

   The home is one of those classic American bungalows of the Italian renaissance style with a touch of Japonesque to it, built between 1908 and 1911 for Oscar and Ida Barnes out of sturdy brick and mortar on a large corner lot. It must have been one of the jewels of the neighborhood when it was first built, and probably for many decades after.

   The architect is unknown but local Wichita architect Charles Terry is often credited with the design.

   The area of Wichita it inhabits is now known as historic midtown Wichita, which was the original town site and oldest neighborhood in the city. The area was once home to almost all of the county and city administration buildings and can boast of a number of classic government buildings - edifices built of large and imposing blocks of granite, including the new and old county and city courthouses.

   Which goes to explaining why the last occupants were attorneys - sometime over the course of the past 50 years the interior had been remodeled with all the bedrooms and parlors reserviced into offices.

   However, there are no longer any attorneys occupying the building. It is vacant, and looks to have been vacant for awhile.

   That area of historic midtown Wichita appears to have been overlooked by the various organizations and preservation societies that committed to revitalizing the area beginning in the 1990's - those organizations did a fantastic job with several of the large Victorian Houses that were built further north along the little Arkansas river, but the area around 8th and Broadway where this house is located, not so much.

   Which is a shame as it deserves far better than the probable fate of being demolished to make way for some shoddily built fast-food franchise or another.

   Such is the march of soulless urban renewal.