THIS IS US

In 1901 Sam Wainwright and his wife Anna moved to Lenox, IA where he purchased a lumber yard and a grain company. Because of his experience in the banking business he reorganized and became President the Farmers & Merchant bank. Wanting to build a masterpiece home for his family, Sam hired the best German architects to erect the Queen Anne in 1904 at the corner of Michigan and Main. Anna a teacher and assistant bank teller was my maternal Great-Great Grandmother's cousin.

In 1922, O.P Arnold purchased the home after an untimely death of Samuel and remodeled the home to establish second funeral parlor for the community of Lenox.  After 36 years of operating the business O.P sold the home and business to my paternal Grandparents, Rollie and Marcia Bender. 

As a young child, my brothers, sister and I would spend many days and nights with our Grandparents. The three floors were open to us and our friends, as a large playhouse and entertainment center. The evergreen tree seen in the photo (1918) would later hold a tree swing for my father and my siblings where we all enjoyed Iowa's summer days. In 1974, Rollie and Marcia retired and left the home that we loved dearly.

Dreaming of someday reuniting at the corner of Michigan and Main, in 2008 my husband and I found the opportunity to call this Grand Lady, home. We then set out on our journey to began the long process of restoring and creating our own home.