HISTORIC GEM
lavish for its time OVER-THE-TOP DETAILS SET THIS QUEEN ANNE ON A PEDESTAL ALL ITS OWN STORY MARJIE DUCEY PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY BEBEE
W
Queen Anne in downtown Council
and his wife by local architect S.E. Max-
Bluffs. Its four porches with their ornate
on and built in 1886 by Vincent Battin.
ayne Andersen’s
milled spindles and brackets, decorative
Etched-glass doors in the entry, a trio
application to add his
chimneys and gables and other architec-
home to the National
tural features provide a clue of what lies
of stained-glass windows on the landing
Register of Historic
within.
Places landed at the Iowa State Historic Preservation office on a ho-hum day.
A few steps inside the vestibule and you see an intricately carved oak stair-
Their reaction was gratifying.
case, and quickly realize why the house
“They were ecstatic,” Andersen says.
was listed in 2018.
It’s not often they find a house with so many original features intact. Andersen lives in a Victorian-era
No detail was too small for the original owners, Emma and Shepard Farnsworth.
with an oil painting above and window seat below, 11-foot ceilings with 10-foot doors and six original fireplaces are just a few of the highlights of the approximately 5,000-square-foot home. “It was even built with bathrooms,” Andersen says. “He (Farnsworth) was a
The house was designed for the banker
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
EXTERIOR
ENTRYWAY
BACK PARLOR
The 1886 house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
Both sets of ornate doors have acidetched glass windows, with scenes of hunting and fishing and birds.
Wayne calls this room his nest, because it’s where he spends the majority of his time.
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