The E. H. Willey (pronounced will e) house located at 104 Court Street in downtown Vermillion is on the United States National Register of Historic Places. What exactly does this mean?
Congress created the Nation's official list of historic and cultural sites to identify and protect them. Properties must retain their historic character. To be registered, there must have been an event of historic significance, an individual associated with the site, or the property having a distinctive characteristic of style, period, method of construction or the work of a master craftsman. Why the Willey house?
E. H. Willey was the "Dakota Republican", a weekly published in Vermillion, South Dakota that was described as the "sparks of life direct from the anvil of human thought"(1). His sharp tongue as expressed in "his" paper, while caustic and abrasive to those who were the targets of his type, was probably the most quoted of all South Dakota papers. His writing in the times of William Cowper Brann, drew attention not only to the local scene but to the national and international as well. To my knowledge he was fair but gave no quarter to those who overstepped propriety. Remember his was the time of Carrie Nation (who visited Vermillion, much to the chagrin of many of those here). And, this was after all, the frontier where the final days of the Indian Wars were being played out. In addition, papers contained not only news but the columns expressed the preferences of the writer and the editor (who in most cases was the same). Accordingly when one read of the President's actions, you could be sure that an interpretive judgement would be interwoven into the story. Those were the "Golden Days of Journalism". Mencken's efforts pale when compared to the writings of the prairie journalist. Having said this, what about the Willey House?
In a small town like Vermillion, the house was identified as the "Big White House" on the corner South of the Courthouse, where a large maple grows in the middle of the sidewalk. Things change, the courthouse is no longer there, having been replaced by the Post Office, the "Tree" is long gone as time finally destroyed what man could not, and the "Big White House" is no longer white but painted a pleasant peach colour. Description of the house as taken from the application to the United States Department of Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service is: "Typical of Queen Anne style construction of the period, the house designed by noted builder, Andrew Pickett, was built in 1895 for E. H. Willey."
The house was placed on the National Register in 1982. As built it is described as a large, cubical, frame mass dominated by a hip roof and crowned by a central chimney. On the west facade a broad gable which nearly extends the width of the house is flush with the roofline of the main roof on the north side leaving an asymetrical impression. Smaller gables, with their east sides also flush with the eastern face of the hip roof, rise on the north and south sides, the southern gable projecting over an extended bay. The west facade, facing Court Street, is the primary entrance facade. The entrance is slightly left of center and opens into a square stair hall. A large square window with a stained glass transom is to the right and lights the front parlor. The porch has a shed roof supported by five posts randomly spaced and is decorated by ornamental brackets and balusters. The porch stairs which are slightly left of center, has a wrought iron hand rail. Over the entrance on the second floor is a smaller porch trimmed in the same manner as the lower porch. The shed roof has a shallower pitch than the roof below, and instead of balusters, the lower portion is covered with fish scale shingles. These shingles also fill the pediment and the gables. One door, which is not centered either on the main door below or the windows in the gable above, opens onto the second floor porch. Single windows flank the porch. The south facade is plain with one double-hung window on each floor on the western half and on each floor of the projecting bay. Extremely narrow windows mark the west face of this bay. Facing Kidder Street, the north facade is more animated. There are two double hung windows, one above the other, on the far western corner; one in the center of the second floor, just under one side of the north gable, which has a door under it at ground level (it was through this door that E. H. Willey mostly passed on his way to the Court House and to his publishing establishment); and near the eastern corner, a single window above and a pair below, both off center to the gable. Midway between floors and slightly to the right of the center window is a large stained glass window providing light to the stairway landing. The north side has from time to time been modified, early photographs show a shed type extension covering the windows now revealed following its removal. It is unknown when the eastern porch was added.(Judging from the trim and oak flooring, it is speculated that the addition was in the mid-20s in keeping with houses built in Vermillion that have similar materials of construction. Likewise the extension has a poured concrete foundation rather than the Sioux quartzite of the earlier period.
The house while serving as the residence of Editor Willey and his wife, is said to have been used as a University fraternity, and student housing. It is these uses that led to the modifications of the primary structure. Since being acquired by Gregory Scott Wortham, graduate of the University of South Dakota and well know writer, artist, ceramicist and sculpturer, the house has been carefully returned to its original appearances.
Some of the unique features of the E. H. Willey house are: Hidden storage - It was discovered when the front stairs was being rebuilt that a hidden storage area existed at the turn of the stairs. This area approximately three feet wide by 6 feet deep and three feet high, was completely walled off. Interestingly, the plasterer who did the house finished the interior walls of the "box". Nothing was found within the box other than cobwebs and it is doubtful that the Willeys were even aware of its existence.
Water, a scarce commodity - With no city services at the time the house was built, it was necessary for the homeowner to be completely self sufficient. In the case of this house, there were two cisterns. One in the front yard and one under the kitchen from which water could be drawn with a pump mounted in the center of the floor. The cistern under the kitchen is approximately eight feet in diameter and six feet deep. It hasn't had water in it in years and is currently used for storage (would make a nice shelter against a tornado or nuclear bomb.). The cistern in the front yard (actually the side yard facing Kidder) was fed by an underground ducting of brickwork from the house gutters. We discovered the cistern when we were leveling the area as we converted from a parking area to a grassed lawn. (For years cars had been parking over the cistern, not knowing it was there.) It has been filled with sand.
Air conditioning and heat - The builder provided ductwork within the walls for movement of air. These wooden boxed enclosures connect many of the lower floor rooms with those directly above. (We have used them for placement of electrical and telephone wires where possible). One of these openings is revealed in the front bedroom wall and exits in the under-the-eves area on the third floor. Can't see any way that this could have been useful.) The original furnace was a convection system which depended on hot air rising and cold air settling, thus there were very large openings in the floors through which the air could move. With today's forced air circulation, smaller returns are used and since there are front and back stairs, air movement occurs easily resulting in a very evenly tempered house. A bronze box with levers was mounted on the baseboard in the dining room. By adjusting the position of the levers it was possible to direct the flow of heat to different areas of the house.
Construction - The house was built using the balloon type construction. That is, the exterior framework of the house has two by fours that reach from the foundation to the roof-line. This differs from today's method of essentially stacking boxes one atop another as you build upward. The balloon method results in a greater flexibility to the structure. Thus in a strong wind, the building will give rather than remaining fixed in place. Thus, loading is more uniformly spread. What this means is that there will be fewer structural cracks in the plaster with time as the entire surfaces flex rather than the stress being placed on a single point.
The house is supported on a substantial foundation of Sioux quartzite that is set well below the frost line. When the basement was more fully excavated some time probably in the 20's, massive berms were left to provide support, thus, the basement is much smaller than would be expected.
Because a back stairs was added and the back porch enclosed, some time in the distant past, the dining room was made smaller. In addition there is a side porch which had from the pattern of the shadows of where two by four framing had once existed, been divided into three separate small areas. This porch now is used as a dining room, and an adjacent area is used as a laundry room. When the laundry room was refurbished, it was discovered that not one or two but three sub floors actually were present. Since water had entered between the different floors and done damage, all were removed and a new subfloor was added. Both rooms overlay a basement in which a coal chute exiting to the east still is in place. Even later, a bathroom was added on the second floor and its placement over the laundry room made it possible for the house to be used as apartments.
The third floor from original times was used only for storage. Access was difficult due to the placement of the stairs. When one exited the stairs on the third floor, you faced the East wall, and had to make a 180 degree turn back along the side of the low railing surrounding the stairs exit. Because the roofline, it was necessary to bend over the stairs to negotiate the turn. No wonder the third floor was unused. In fact, we discovered that the heat register which opened on the third floor in a direct run from the furnace, was permanently open. Imagine heating an area about 800 square feet in area with no benefit. The stairway has been reversed so that entry now is at the head of the back stairs and the exit is essentially in the center of the third floor area. In doing this, it was possible to gain yet another room, as the wall enclosing the stairs became a wall demarking the third floor office. Insulation and storm windows have been added to the third floor.
At least three different electrical systems have been in use in the Willey house. The first no doubt was a bare wire, post system. This was replaced by rubber wrapped copper wire. It is interesting to note that the copper wire was coated with what appears to be zinc, although the coating is very smooth and uniform (the copper wire is much more ductile than today's wire and is of a smaller gauge). This system was then replaced/added to by a conduit system which for the first time utalized a ground. Of course the current service (installed by Schuh Electric) is two wire with ground. Service to the third floor is independently sourced from the fuse box via 10 gauge wire. All other wiring is 12 gauge. Ground fault interrupts are extensively used. As the house was rewired, different parts of the older systems were preserved and are mounted on a display board to demonstrate usage. Of most interest is the meter which was originally used, it being a 10 amp service.
Floors on the main and second floor are of oak. They were no doubt installed after the house was built, most probably in the 1920's. The flooring is five-sixteenth inch thick, which is the same as today's parquette, but not as thick as the three-quarter inch of current flooring. The company that manufactured the flooring is still in operation in Sercy, Arkansas. They still get request for this flooring and make a production run about once each year to meet demand.
This grand old dame, while showing the effects of age, lends itself to entertainment and with modern updates is a comfortable and pleasant home. Where else can one find a house that has, dependent upon requirements from two to seven bedrooms, two full baths and two half baths, a laundry room, formal entry, parlor, dining room, family room, large kitchen, three porches. The front and back stairs are a perpetual pleasure to small children and pets that "circle" the area. With the addition of storm windows and doors, the house is comfortable both in the winter and summer.
As with most of Vermillion, the plantings are selected to withstand the Dakota winters. Low maintainance bulbs, tubers and corms are planted everwhere. While peonys are the pride of Vermillion, the bearded iris and day lilies provide a continuing show in the spring. In the rock gardens are Pasque flowers (the South Dakota state flower), hen and chicks, and a number of others.
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