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n May 1987, the United States Army brought newlyweds Bill and Nanc Scholl from Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Riley, Kansas. When they first arrived in the Sunflower State, the couple rented the parsonage of the Alida Upland Church, and every Sunday morning they drove in to Abilene to share breakfast at Old Abilene Town’s Hitchin’ Post Restaurant. It was during these weekly visits that they fell in love with Abilene’s friendly people and well-preserved Victorian homes. The Scholls began to dream about owning their own home in historic Abilene, particularly a Dutch Colonial Revival on the corner of Ninth and Olive that was placed on the market along with its charming front porch, featuring a circular seating area and conical roof. “We say we bought the porch and the house just happened to come with it,” says Nanc, who first developed a love for vintage homes while growing up 30 miles north of Ferndale, a popular California tourist destination full of Victorian homes. Nostalgically, Nanc recalls she “always wanted to live in a Ferndale house, but they were much too expensive. This house reminded me of a Ferndale house, and I was bound and determined that we were going to live here.” On January 1, 1989, they moved into their dream home. But a historic house, whether in Ferndale or Abilene, is not just for living. “I read somewhere that people who buy older homes typically do one of 4 R’s: replace, remuddle, remodel or restore,” says Nanc. “Our goal has always been to restore this house back the way it might have been in 1904.” The Scholls say their restoration began the moment they carried their first box into the kitchen … “and ripped an out-of-place cabinet off of the wall.” Then the work began in earnest. TOP: The Scholls have spent nearly 15 years working on their home. BOTTOM: Ceilings were reinforced throughout the home, but the early 20th-century structure remains largely original.
Sunflower living summer 2013
SPACES
scholl Home
Couple cares for a home that evokes memories of a Californian retreat and an Abilene patriarch
Photography by Lisa Eastman
Four ‘R’s
Story by Patricia E. Ackerman
The House of
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