County of house: Cooper County
Location of house: Main St. & Walnut St. NW corner, Boonville
Built: 1895
Architect/Builder: W. T. Johnson
Architectural Style: Queen Anne with Richardson Romanesque Revival affinities
Original Owner: Wilbur T. Johnson
Current Occupant: Daughters of the American Revolution
"Welcome back! The DAR Headquarters building has reopened to the public! In compliance with Washington, D.C. mask regulations, visitors are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination.
"The Wilbur T. and Rhoda Stephens Johnson House was constructed in
1895 at the south end of Main Street in Boonville, Missouri. Built as a
private residence the three story building contains a full basement, a
porte-cochere to the south of the house and a full length front entrance porch
on the east façade. The house contains 18 rooms (including those in the
basement), 52 windows, and eight fireplaces. Built in the Queen Anne style,
this Victorian mansion contains elements of the Richardsonian Romanesque in the
use of massive foundation blocks of Indiana limestone, the blocky decorative
treatment of the red brick, and the gently rounded arches of the front porch.
It also features the massiveness of proportion so common to this type of
structure. Elements of Queen Anne architecture are the irregularity of the
plan, the massing, and surface texture. Brickwork forms the decorative
function normally provided by wood ornament on most Queen Anne structures.
Towers, projecting porches, turrets and bays are also indicative of the Queen
Anne influence as well as elements of cut, carved, molded and turned
ornamentation. The Johnson House also possesses decorated chimneys and gabled
parapeted wall dormers accenting the roof on each side. A circular tower on
the northeast corner is topped by a conical roof with gable dormers and an iron
finial. Wall surfaces are smooth red brick laid in the common bond pattern and
embellished with white stone belt course and terracotta panels. Indiana
limestone is used in the tower, buttresses, and porte-cochere as well as the
foundation; all windows have a plain stone lintel and lug sill. The Wilbur T.
and Rhoda Stephens Johnson House retains a high level of integrity in terms of
workmanship, materials, and design, in addition to its integrity of location
and setting." ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Built: 1895, 1897
Style/Design: Queen Anne with Romanesque Revival affinities
The Romanesque affinities on the exterior include the use of corbelled brickwork, ornately molded brick in a jigsaw frieze, & buttresses. Gable parapeted wall dormers accent the roof on each façade; several have 3 part windows with an arcaded header. A circular tower at the NE corner ends with a conical roof with gable dormers & an iron finial. The wall surface is a smooth red
brick embellished with white stone belt course and lintels & terra cotta panels. The primary façade has a 1 story hip-roofed porch with a pediment over the double leaf entrance and transom. To the N is
an oriel window with a corbelled brick base and a 1 story polygonal bay. The S façade
has a large chimney, a 2 story bow window, and a secondary entrance which is afforded
protection by a hip roofed porte-cochere, The interior features a large entrance hall
with a fireplace, circular room (base of NE tower) and an ornate staircase with built-in
seats at the base and landing where there is a large stained glass window. The spindle
frieze canopy has strong "Moorish" motifs complete with moon and stars. This is repeated
in the NW room to set off the bay window. The 11 fireplaces feature a different color
tile around the firebox in each room and that color sets the tone of the room. Each
mantel is different. The SE room has a painted ceiling and there are several pocket
doors on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor has bedrooms and the 3rd floor is a large ballroom. Additions and alterations include: 1959 chandelier-gasoliers sold out of house;
1960's fruit cellar filled in, carriage house removed, basement floors concreted; and
1970's rear porch/pantry removed, rear door bricked in, and concrete patio poured. The
kitchen area was modernized and redone after this area was badly damaged by fire.
"The home was built as the residence for Wilbur T. Johnson, a shoe manufacturer. The rose garland hand painted on the parlor ceiling allegedly was done by Constantine Brundini, a Washington, D.C. artist, who was brought to Missouri to paint the State
Capitol by Johnson's brother-in-law, Gov. Lon V. Stephens. The following owners, Anna and
Amanda Berndt, were dressmakers who designed and constructed exquisite gowns commissioned by the Boonville aristocracy. The next owner was Henry E. Fuser. In 1961, the
next owners, Pete and Shirley Christus, owners of Pete's Cafe, completed interior renovations which included remodeling of the kitchen. Additional owners have been Ruben
Linneman and Giles McCoy, who completed interior preservation and added the garage. The
present owners purchased the residence in 1979, own and operate Foster's pharmacy.
"The res1dence sits on a high embankment at the NW corner of
Main &Walnut Sts., facing E onto Main. The porte-cochere and a 2 car brick garage and workshop at the rear (W) of the lot are reached by a circle drive from Walnut. The gabled garage
was built 1974-75. A dog kennel is on the extreme NW portion of the property." ~ Boonville Historic Survey PDF pages 2073-2079