Fitz-Gerald House

Built in 1903-1904 for William D. and Helen S. Fitz-Gerald

1106 S. 20th Street—No. 61 in the new edition of the NSNA Walking Tour Books

Architects—Leach & Plym

Heather and John Westra – current owners since November 2018

Before moving to Lincoln, we had lived in homes in older, historic neighborhoods in other cities in the U.S. and had really enjoyed the diversity of housing and people who lived in these neighborhoods. So when we relocated to Lincoln a few years ago we started looking for a home in one of Lincoln’s historic areas – the Near South Neighborhood. We spent quite a while looking around to find a house that had much of its original character remaining, or that we could reasonably restore close to its original state. The house we eventually purchased, the Fitz-Gerald House, had some of its original characters, but it was difficult to see those original features as it had been converted into five apartments in the 1950s and still retained much of that footprint when we purchased it. Fortunately, the house had two things going for it: the original blueprints and much of the original woodwork, doors and hardware, which had been removed, but scattered throughout the attic and basement.

The restoration we have undertaken has been daunting at times. We started with the least glamourous, but most important features – foundation repair (tuck-pointing crumbling mortar; rebuilding foundation walls); replacing crumbling sidewalk; clearing out dead/overgrown trees and shrubs; replacing all the original knob-and-tube electrical with modern wiring; replacing all gas supply lines; replacing all lead (yes it still had lead) and galvanized steel water supply lines with modern ones; replace leaking sewer lines; replacing the three HVAC systems, including all ductwork, which had been zoned for the apartments. We had a live-in carpenter the past two summers working to help us deconstruct the apartment floor plan and restoring it to the original configuration. He, his partner, and his son have all spent time, as have our two sons and their friends, helping to tear down non-original walls; restore original doorways; hang original doors and pocket doors; replace all missing oak and pine trim with like or locally-milled trim, and rebuild the stairway to its original form. Most recently we have re-plastered all the damaged walls and ceilings on the first floor; repaired and refinished the original hardwood floors on the first floor; and begun repairing and preparing the clapboards and exterior trim for painting – we anticipate that being a four-year process.