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 The Mills House - Osawatomie, Kansas Posted by:  iconions
N 38° 30.166 W 094° 56.531
15S E 330645 N 4263388
This elaborate, three-story, Queen Anne house was built in 1902-1904 for Henry Mills, an oilman and the producer of the first commerically successful oil well west of the Mississippi.
Waymark Code: WM124HG
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2020
Views: 0
For a very small town in Kansas, this is quite the structure. It sits on a quiet side street. The blue building with the typical Queen Anne tower makes this house a bellwether example of the late Queen Anne style. The house itself, being down the street from the main avenue of Osawatomie and on the way to the State Mental Hospital, just looks like either the home to an eccentric hermit OR the place for a great haunted house! Signage on the front of the house reads:
"Mills House Circa 1902 Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
William M. Mills, an oilman from Pennsylvania, drilled over 400 oil and gas wells in his lifetime. He drilled the Norman #1 well in Neodesha, Kansas which was the first successful commercial oil well west of the Mississippi and opened up the mid-continent oil field. His companies supplies gas to the towns of Osawatomie, Paola, and Spring Hill.
In 1902, he used profits from these ventures to build the magnificent home on First Street. The Queen Anne style house was designed by the famous architect, George Barber, and cost $49,000 to build. It has:
7,000 square feet
9 fireplaces
elaborate woodwork
ornamental ceilings
During the mid 1900s, the house was converted into several apartments and was allowed to deteriorate. The home is now being restored to its original beauty by former State Senator Doug Walker and his family. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- City of Osawatomie Tourism website
The William Mills House (ca. 1902-1904) is located at 212 First Street in Osawatomie, Miami County, Kansas (pop. 4,459). The two-and-one-half-story, balloon frame, cedar lap sided Queen Anne structure stands on a rusticated limestone foundation and is covered with a cross gabled, hipped roof with asphalt and wooden shingles. A full basement stands beneath the house. The building has an eastern facade orientation and measures approximately seventy feet from east to west and fifty feet from north to south. The building maintains a moderately high degree of interior and exterior architectural detailing but its condition is slightly deteriorated.
The facade of the house is defined by a three-story tower which projects from the southern part of the eastern elevation and a one-story porch which extends north from the eastern elevation's center and then wraps around the eastern third of the north elevation. The porch is supported by Ionic capitaled wooden columns. A pergola projects from the south side of the porch. Rock-faced and half-timbered gables project from the east, north, and south elevations, angled bays stand below them. Brick chimneys with corbelled pots rise from the roof slopes of the east, south, and west elevations. The chimney on the eastern roof slope exhibits recessed panelling on its four sides. Galvanized metal roof ornaments cap all of the roof apexes. The roof, now covered with asphalt shingles, with the exception of the tower and pergola roofs, which are covered with wooden shingles, was originally roofed with single color, dark slate shingles. The wooden belt course which tops the foundation, the corner posts which mark each corner's conclusion, the plain fascia board which surmounts the second story, and the bracketted second story overhang outline the house.
The fenestration is generally 1/1 with wooden surrounds. Some of the windows are fixed with leaded glass panes.
- National Register Application
Historic Name: Mills, William, House
Historic Function: Domestic
Subcategory: Single Dwelling
Present Function: Domestic
Subcategory: Single Dwelling
Residential/Commercial/Religious Style: Queen Anne
Physical Description/Remarks: cross gable and hip roof
Plan Form: Irregular
Roof Form: Complex
Stories: 2 1/2
Condition: Excellent
Principal Material: Wood
Architect/Designer/Builder: George F. Barber
Year of Construction: 1904
Certainty: Estimated
Date Notes: National Register nomination states construction was between 1902 and 1904.
General Remarks: General design from George Barber catalog with many additional details designed by Mr. Mills.
Ancillary Structures: Garage/Carriage House
Ancillary Structure Remarks: Original garage / carriage house sits southwest of main house.
- Kansas Historic Resources Inventory for Mills House
The "Official Tourism" URL link to the attraction: [Web Link]
Admission Prices:
Free - this is just to experience the exterior of the building
Approximate amount of time needed to fully experience the attraction: Less than 15 minutes
Transportation options to the attraction: Personal Vehicle Only
The attraction’s own URL: Not listed
Hours of Operation: Not listed
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