Gottlieb Storz House

        Home of Gottlieb Storz, a German immigrant and pioneering entrepreneur who founded the Storz Brewery and became an important businessman to Omaha. Storz had learned to brew back in Germany. Originally a foreman at a brewing company in Omaha, he became the founder of his own brewery at age 24.[1] Storz's breweries and saloons survived the prohibition era and went on to win medals in international competitions in Omaha; Portland, Oregon; and then in Paris. More about the Storz Brewery can be seen on their website at http://storzbrewing.com/about-storz/storz-history/. 

        The house itself is an example of the stately homes built in the Gold Coast area, and one of very few mansions that remain. The front of the house has an enclosed front porch with two-story bay windows at either side. Storz's favorite room in the house was the solarium.[2] He designed this room himself with its wooden lattice work around the ceiling that consists of large domed skylight made of Tiffany glass panels.[3]

        The designer of the house seems to be an element of debate. In the application to the National Register of Historic Places, Arthur, Gottlieb Storz's son, wrote that Thomas R Kimball was the architect that designed the house.[4] Other sources, such as Omaha's Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, write that house was designed by two Omaha architects by the name of George Fisher and Harry Lawrie.[5]

        Gottlieb Storz’s descendants also managed to make names for themselves while in this house. Arthur Storz was born in 1884 and grew to be a respected spokesman for civil aviation. He was a WWI Airman and helped to develop the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base.[6]  Robert Storz grew to be a respected leader in Omaha politics. In 1946, he managed to raise $160,000 to meet the city’s pay-raise commitment to firemen and policemen.[7] Robert Storz’s son, Todd Storz, is credited with creating the Top 40 format for radio’s popular music.[8]

        Storz decendants continued to live in the house until 1989 when it was bought by Michael Gaughan, who then donated it to Creighton University in 2002. In 2007, the university sold the mansion as a private residence.

Bibliography

Biga, Leo Adam. “The Storz Saga: A Family Dynasty – Their Mansion, the Brewery

            That Built It, the Man Who Loved It, a Legacy of Giving, the Loss of a

            Dream.” Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories, June 15, 2010.     

            https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/15/the-storz-saga-a-family-dynasty-their-   

            mansion-the-brewery-that-built-it-the-man-who-loved-it-a-legacy-of-giving-the-loss-

            of-a-dream/ (accessed April 2, 2017).


Briggs, Porter. American Preservation. Vol. 2. 3 vols. P. Briggs, 1978. P 156.

Fatherley, Richard W., and David T. MacFarland. The Birth of Top 40 Radio: The Storz

            Stations’ Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. McFarland, 2013.

“Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission.”

            https://landmark.cityofomaha.org/article/4026-gottlieb-storz-residence (accessed  

            April 2, 2017).

Larsen, Lawrence H., Harl A. Dalstrom, Kay Calame Dalstrom, and Barbara J. Cottrell

            Larson. Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. 

            Lincoln: Bison Books, 2007.

National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. PDF.

            https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/91aeb002-293c-46d2-8f9f-

            a111daa76575?branding=NRHP .

“Nebraska Department of Aeronautics.” http://www.aero.nebraska.gov/storz.htm (accessed 

            April 23, 2017).

           1. Leo Adam Biga, “The Storz Saga: A Family Dynasty – Their Mansion, the Brewery That Built It, the Man Who Loved It, a Legacy of Giving, the Loss of a Dream,” Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories, June 15, 2010, https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/15/the-storz-saga-a-family-dynasty-their-mansion-the-brewery-that-built-it-the-man-who-loved-it-a-legacy-of-giving-the-loss-of-a-dream/ (accessed April 2, 2017).

           2. Porter Briggs, American Preservation. Vol. 2, 3 vols, P. Briggs, 1978, P 156.

           3. National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, PDF, https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/91aeb002-293c-46d2-8f9f-a111daa76575?branding=NRHP (accessed April 2,2017).

           4. Ibid

           5. “Landmarks Heritage Preservation Comission,” https://landmark.cityofomaha.org/article/4026-gottlieb-storz-residence. (Accessed April 2, 2017).

           6. “Nebraska Department of Aeronautics,” http://www.aero.nebraska.gov/storz.htm, (Accessed April 23, 2017).

           7. Lawrence H. Larsen, Harl A. Dalstrom, Kay Calame Dalstrom, and Barbara J. Cottrell Larson, Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs, (Lincoln: Bison Books, 2007), 301.

           8. Richard W. Fatherley and David T. MacFarland, The Birth of Top 40 Radio: The Storz Stations’ Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. (McFarland, 2013).