Historic district designation sought for 3 homes

The five-bedroom McHenry home, at 1427 Green Berry Road in Jefferson City, features 17-inch-thick locally quarried stone.
The five-bedroom McHenry home, at 1427 Green Berry Road in Jefferson City, features 17-inch-thick locally quarried stone.

Three area residents want to create a new national historic district along Green Berry Road.

If approved, the district would include 1427, 1431 and 1503 Green Berry Road.

While the Jefferson City Historic Preservation Commission approved the application Tuesday, it still has a way to go before it can be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The three homes reside next to each other, were constructed together and by the same architect - Frank Miller.

The home at 1427 Green Berry Road, the McHenry House, was built in 1908. The other two, 1431 (the Dewey House) and 1503 (the Nacy House) were built in the following two years.

Rachel Senzee, Jefferson City Neighborhood Services supervisor, said she'd talked to the property owners before about the possibility of being included in the Moreau Drive Historic District, but that ran into issues.

"The houses at the end of the Moreau Drive district, kind of where it turns into Green Berry, there's a couple of modern builds," she said. "There were these three houses that want to get listed, but because there's that strip of houses in between that are more modern, you have to have a break in the district. That's why they're establishing their own district."

If approved, the two districts would be near each other, but because of the more modern homes between the two, they couldn't be combined into one.

Sense said the city's approval can help an application when going through the state and federal processes.

"We have a board that's made up of architects and historians, people that can speak intelligently on historic structures," she said. "(The state) sends it out to the local government to make sure we're supportive of the project."

The application is scheduled to go before the Missouri State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation at its Nov. 5 meeting. If approved, it will need to go through the National Park Service.

According to the application, the three houses are half the remaining residences Miller designed. The other three are on Swifts Highway.

Miller is also credited with designing the Cole County Courthouse - rebuilding it after it burned in 1918 - as well as St. Mary's Hospital, which was recently demolished, the Central Bank building at 238 Madison St., Merchants Bank at 101 W. High St., St. Peter's School at 216 Broadway and Burch-Berendzen Brothers Grocery at 304 E. High St.

The application focuses on the buildings' architectural design as historically significant.

McHenry House

The home was built by Houck McHenry, one of the founders of the Capital City Telephone Company, according to the application.

He also spent 15 years on the school board, two terms on City Council and two terms as the president of the Commercial Club, which has since grown into the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.

The McHenry family owned the home until 2016.

The home falls under the Craftsman style of architecture, which includes porches, rustic stone walls, overhanging eaves and a cross gabled roof.

According to the application, the stone used in the home is "believed to have been quarried locally as Houck McHenry owned a quarry."

Dewey Home

Charles Dewey built the home while working as a farmer and insurance salesman. He served on the Boy Scout Council and was involved in the development of Camp Maries.

Additionally, he spent 12 years as secretary of the Cole County Committee along with serving as the official reporter of the Missouri State Senate. He ran for Congress twice, but was defeated both times.

The home changed hands several times, but the current owners purchased it in 1997.

The Dewey Home also features the use of native stone and large porches, but also takes some inspiration from the Bungalow architectural style, according to the application.

For instance, the roof extends over the porches.

Nacy Home

Richard R. Nacy served as Missouri's state treasurer from 1933-37 and again for a partial term in the 1940s. During the Truman Administration, he served as executive assistant Democratic national chairman and state party chairman.

While the home has his name, it was built by Waller A. Graves, who moved to Jefferson City to serve on the state Supreme Court from 1906-28. Nacy purchased the home in 1937.

The Nacy Home, while also Craftsman style, includes inspirations from the Colonial Revival architectural period, according to the application, such as overhanging eaves, symmetry on the front facade, exposed rafters on the porch and Doric-style columns outside.

If approved, the National Register distinction would extend to 11 secondary structures and landscape features between the three properties.