NRHP Reference # 73000751 Architectural style Renaissance architecture | Built 1880 Opened 1880 Added to NRHP 8 May 1973 | |
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Similar Seelye Mansion, Jeffcoat Photography Studio M, Heritage Center, Greyhound Hall of Fame, Museum‑Independent Telephony | ||
Lebold Mansion is a Victorian-era house in Abilene, Kansas, USA. Lebold Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Contents
2008trip19 lebold mansion music box
History
Constructed of native Kansas limestone, the mansion was built in 1880 by banker Conrad Lebold.
In 1857 Tim and Eliza Hersey, the founders and first inhabitants of Abilene, built a stone dugout in the location where the Lebold Mansion stands today. The Hersey dugout was incorporated into the construction of the mansion's tower and is preserved as part of the foundation located at the tower's base. Visitors still can view the dugout when touring the home.
The Mansion has served many purposes over the years. In the 1920s it was used by the local phone company as a boarding house for telephone operators. In 1930 it became an orphanage and then served as an apartment building from 1940-1970.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
It has survived amazingly intact and was maintained as a historic house museum from 1973 until 2010. It was considered to be one of the finest Victorian decorative art museums in the midwest. It was featured in Victorian Homes Magazine and Victorian Decorating Magazine.
In 2010, it was sold to new owners as a private residence. The Lebold Mansion has recently undergone an extensive restoration by the new owners, Gary Yuschalk and Larkin Mayo, with help from Victorian Interiors, a San Francisco company. They have returned it to the decorative styles popular in the 1880s. Its 23 rooms have been redecorated with period furniture, wallpaper, drapes, and other furnishings.
