2 East Stewart Road – Vessell Home

Media coverage: May 5, 2004 — Group recognizes local landmarks — Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia Historic Preservation Commission recognizes 12 properties: Walter Williams home at 202 S. Glenwood, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity House at 24 E. Stewart Road, The Heidman House at 709 Broadway, Thomas Hart Bento Elementary School at 1410 Hinkson Ave., Sally Flood house at 1620 Hinkson Ave., the house at 2 E. Stewart Road, the Keene School home at 4713 Brown Station Road, The Champlin House at 1312 W. Broadway, the Arch McHarg (not McCard as reported in this article), at 121 West Blvd., The Wabash Arms Building at 821 Walnut St.

Take a peek inside, via Zillow:

http://www.zillow.com/h/2-E-Stewart-Rd-Columbia-MO-65203-58707939/

It can be easy to forget history, but historic homes serve as wonderful reminders.

That’s the theme of the article, “Historic Home: A Slice of Spain,” published in the April/May 2006 Columbia Home & Lifestyle magazine written by Jim Muench.

The home at 2 E. Stewart Road looks like something that could be found in Spain or California or anywhere Spanish settlers had influenced. This Spanish look highlights the fact the article notes, that Spain held the Louisiana Territory, which included what is now Missouri, from 1763 to 1800.

The Spanish influence doesn’t stop there. The Santa Fe Trail was a vital trade route that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was in use until the railroads took over the job of moving goods and people.

Yet, the home at 2 E. Stewart Road doesn’t stem from those origins. Spanish Colonial stucco and tile became popular in Missouri in the 1920s, with its most prominent example shown in the Kansas City’s County Club Plaza, the article notes.

Indeed, the home on the corner of Stewart and Garth was built in 1929 on land purchased from Clara and John Stewart, for which the road is named, the article states. It was owned by a long list of people.

It was named to the Columbia Notable Properties list in 2004, as noted in a May 5, 2004, article in the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Here’s a list of the owners of the home, taken from the April/May 2006 article by Muench.

  •  1929 – Dan and Gona Wilkerson, who had purchased the land two years earlier from Clara and John Stewart, for whom Stewart Road is named
  • 1941 – George Foster
  • 1942 – Evelyn and Smith Turner
  • 1943 – Catherine Tallen, who later married W.E. McClellan
  • 1953 — C. Mitchell Tucker and Helen J. Tucker
  • 1959 – Webster and Irma Wheelock
  • 1971 – David and Marilyn Vernon
  • 1980s – Garland Stephens, who owned the Temple Stephens grocery
  • 1990 – Jennifer and Alan Polniak
  • 2001 – Danna and Keith Vessell

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