Oren W. Francis house, vicinity of Burr Oak, Kansas.Photo byAmmodramus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This is a beautiful historic home. The Oren W. Francis House is located at Route 1 (KS-Highway 128) in the vicinity of Burr Oak, Kansas (Jewell County). (The house may also go by the address of 628 Main Street.)

The architectural style is Late Victorian: Queen Anne. The foundation is brick and the walls are wood, weatherboard, and fish-scale shingles. The designer was Clark Francis.

The three-story Francis House was built around 1909 and above White Rock Valley. This house has wrap-around porches and a three-story turret on the southwest corner.

The main entrance is a double door with beveled glass windows. Upon entry, the central room has an open triple-landing staircase to the second floor. The balustrade has spindles with newel posts on each of the landings. On the first landing, there is a window with stained glass.

The central area leads to other rooms. The receiving room is to the southwest. This room contains an original large brass carbide-gas chandelier, which was converted to electricity. From this room is an entrance to the circular turret. The interior of the tower room has a curved sitting bench under three curved glass windows.

In the northwest corner is the living room behind pocket doors. There's a fireplace with an oak mantel on the east wall. In 1989, a gas-burning log was installed.

To the east of the central area is a dining room, also behind a pocket door. A central hall leads to a parlor in the back. The hall also leads to the kitchen. There is oak flooring on the first floor and wooden corner moldings on the first and second floors.

What used to be the maid's room on the first floor was converted into a laundry room and a three-quarters bathroom in 1988.

From the kitchen is access to an enclosed porch. There is a basement that contains seven rooms including a half bathroom. Upstairs, there are five bedrooms and a bathroom.

Of the houses built in the Burr Oak area between the 1890s and about 1910, four still exist. The Francis House has the most detail and is a half mile north of Burr Oak.

Oren W. Francis

Oren Francis was one of the early settlers in the area. He was born in 1846 in Pennsylvania. When he was a child, he was moved to Wisconsin. In 1871 when he was 25, he moved to Kansas and homesteaded a farm near Burr Oak.

In 1874, Francis went back to Wisconsin. He married Abbie Carpenter and they returned to Jewell County. In December 1879, Francis obtained a patent for 160 acres of land. His house was later built there. Eventually, Oren and Abbie had 10 children.

By 1905, Francis was farming 480 acres. He was also a stockholder in the Jewell County National Bank. His 23-year-old son, Clark watched over the building of the house that was built on the west side of the 160 acres. The house was built by John Shand. The owners of the house at the time it was nominated for the National Register had the original blueprints. They no longer live in the house.

Owen and his wife lived in the house until they died in 1930 and 1927, respectively. For several years after they died, the house and property were in the Francis Estate. In 1947, ownership was transferred to Elton and Jessie Gillett and they lived in the house until they died in 1987 and 1983, respectively.

In 1988, the Francis House was deeded to Susan L. Abel. She and her husband, Donald L. Diehl, resided in the house. Susan, now age 82, lives in Mankato, Kansas. Donald died on August 5, 2012, at age 82.

Donald was a member of the Burr Oak School Board and Jewell County Soil Conservation Board. He had three children with his first wife, Lonnie L. Lewis.
In 1989, he married Susan Abel. They lived in Burr Oak for 17 years and in Mankato for seven years.

According to a Google Maps image dated September 2023, it appears the house needs some repairs including some paint. Some of the railing on the second level is missing. It appears to be privately owned and not open to the public. The good news is this house that's over 100 years old is still standing in a well-kept yard.

Thanks for reading.