Making an old house home: historic A.D. Box house for sale

A feature of Clarion’s landscape for three-fourths of the town’s history, the Queen Anne style A. D. Box House on Central Avenue has been home to a variety of people over the years. In 1901, Box, a liveryman, built the house with an eye for entertaining; it was turned into a boarding house sometime before the 40s. A few different people owned and lived there until 1995, when it was bought, lovingly restored, and for several years operated as a bed-and-breakfast by Sidney and Susan Baker. Now, the Bakers have plans to move to the East Coast to be near family, and are hoping to find someone to live there who will cherish the house’s character and history.

When they bought the house, the Bakers did some minimal ceiling work before they moved in in 1997. After that, they had their work cut out for them. They had to completely restore the kitchen—“There was a sink. No counter,” Susan said—and replace the underflooring in the upstairs bathroom before they could make it usable. Sydney rebuilt the window and put in wainscoting, Susan painted, and they installed an antique clawfoot tub. “It was a real metamorphosis,” Sidney said.

Another big project was re-creating the house’s original wraparound porch. The Bakers weren’t sure when the porch was removed, but the side of the house designed to be protected by it had taken damage over time. Sidney slightly simplified the shape of the porch, which would have originally followed the niches and curves of the house’s architectural features, but found some of the original footings as he built. Now it’s hard to imagine the house without it. “It’s one of my favorite places to be,” Susan said.

 

For the full story, see the June 23 edition of the Monitor.

Wright County Monitor

P.O. Box 153
Clarion, IA 50525
Phone: 515-532-2871
Email: news@wrightcountymonitor.com

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