Restoration of the McElhinny House

MCELHINNY, LYNN

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 10/27/2009 at 14:02:23

"The Fairfield Ledger", Friday, October 23, 2009, Front Page and Page 5

Women's club, foundation restore historic home

By Lacey Jacobs
Ledger staff writer

At more than 150 years old, the Elizabeth McELHINNY House, home of the Fairfield Women's Club, is just as stately as ever.

Having lovingly renovated and redecorated the house during the last several years, the women's club and McElhinny House Foundation Board of Directors are ready to show off their hard work with an open house from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday.

Whether she knew it or not, Elizabeth McELHINNY handed the women's club its mission when she left the club $10,000 for the purchase of a home, said foundation board secretary Robert Tree. Anyone who has ever owned a home, especially an older home, knows it becomes the owner's mission to maintain it, he continued.

The McELHINNY House has been the club's constant charge since it was acquired in 1933, Tree said.

In October 1979, the foundation was formed to assist the women's club with raising funds to maintain the property. As a 501(c)(3), donations to the foundation are tax deductible. The foundation's purpose: "to promote and preserve the rich historical background of Fairfield and surrounding areas and, as the focal point, to restore and preserve the McElhinny House."

Since 2000, the foundation and women's club have replaced the furnace, repaired the roof, painted the exterior and renovated the front porch.

"[These repairs] are the result of the generosity and charitable giving from members of the community, as well as grants from the Greater Jefferson County

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Foundation and a grant from the Iowa Resource Enhancement and Protection Program," Tree said.

Additionally, in 2005, a carriage house was constructed on the spot where one once stood. Tree said the facility is meant to be used for family gatherings and club meetings, although its availability to the public has not been advertised much before now.

The carriage house, Tree said, is outfitted with modern plumbing and is handicap accessible.

Most recently though, the club and foundation completed a major overhaul of the first floor, the space most used by the public and club.

Old carpeting was removed from the dining room and parlor, revealing good hardwood floors. With a grant from the Greater Jefferson County Foundation, Tree said a professional was hired to polish both floors. The women's club then replaced the window coverings, hung new wallpaper and repainted the woodwork.

"The whole interior looks much brighter and more pleasant," Tree said.

Most people are familiar with the outside of the McElhinny House, but Tree suspects fewer have seen the inside, which he said makes now a great time to show it off to the public. The house also may be booked for clubs, organizations and private groups; the dining area seats 75.

In January 1846, Robert McELHINNY moved here from Washington, Pa., and purchased two lots from the city for $60. A carpenter named John LYNN was hired to design a home of Greek Revival architecture.

Construction began in 1846, with all the materials brought up the Des Moines River to Keosauqua and then hauled by wagon to Fairfield. The home was completed in 1851.

Following McELHINNY's death in 1878, the home remained in the McELHINNY family for 69 years. The home was then closed and sometimes rented as a rooming house or private dwelling.

In 1920, the home was sold to the Fairfield Community School District for $6,000. The home was converted to a modern schoolhouse and used for elementary classes from 1927 to 1931, the year Robert McELHINNY's daughter Elizabeth died, leaving the women's club $10,000.

The women's club signed the final papers to purchase the house in 1933 and has owned the home ever since.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

*Transcribed for genealogy/historical purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

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