Historic Houses of Huntington Tour

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The Buffington-McGinnis House, sometimes known as simply the Buffington House, is reportedly the oldest surviving home in Cabell County. The Federal style home was constructed by 1816, but perhaps as early as 1785. For a time it was occupied by Thomas and Ann Buffington, some of the first settlers in the Guyandotte area. Thomas and his descendants were very influential figures in the political and economic history of Guyandotte and, later, Huntington. One descendant, Peter Cline Buffington, became the first mayor of Huntington. After the Civil War, the house came under the ownership of the McGinnis family, and has had numerous different owners since. Today it remains a private residence and is not open to the public.

2. Zachary Taylor Wellington House

The Zachary Taylor Wellington House was built in 1847 by local carpenter Erastus Wellington. His son Zachary Taylor Wellington inherited the home in the 1870s and heavily remodeled it, giving the house a Folk Victorian appearance. Zachary was notably one of the few Republican politicians to hold office in West Virginia following the restoration of voting rights to ex-Confederates, who quickly took over most elected positions, in 1871. Wellington served variously as county assessor, deputy sheriff, town treasurer, and postmaster. Today the house remains a private residence, and has largely been restored to its 1870s appearance. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

3. Madie Carroll House

The Madie Carroll House, also known as the Thomas Carroll House, is one of the oldest structures in Cabell County. According to local histories, it was transported via flatboat from Gallipolis, Ohio to its present location in 1810. During the 1850s, the house was acquired by the Carroll family, who opened an inn at their home. The house also briefly served as Cabell County’s first Catholic church, as the family allowed services to be held there before a formal church was built. In 1861, it became one of the few homes to survive the Battle of Guyandotte, after Mary Carroll prevented Union troops from setting fire to the house. Madie Carroll, the house’s namesake, inherited it from her aunt Mayme, and owned the home when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 1984, the Carroll family donated the house, and in 1988 it was restored and opened as a historic house museum. Today the home is operated by the Madie Carroll House Preservation Society, which hosts many events at the house such as the annual Guyandotte Civil War Days.

4. Albert E. Cox House (1896 Club)

This historic house at the intersection of 15th Street and 3rd Avenue was designed by J.B. Stewart for Huntington businessman Albert E. Cox in 1896. The Cox family history in Cabell County can be traced back to Albert’s grandfather, William T. Cox, who was the founder of Cox Landing as well as an avid supporter of Prohibition. As its ownership changed hands over the years, the home was repurposed to house apartments and later a popular nightclub, the 1896 Club. The Cox house has endured many natural disasters over the years, from floods to fires, but the structure remains mostly intact today. Although it has now stood empty for over 20 years, the house continues to fascinate the community and may one day be restored.

5. Enslow Mansion (1896-1977)

The Enslow Mansion was one of the most luxurious private homes in early Huntington. Prominent attorney and businessman Frank B. Enslow built the twenty-six room house in 1896 in a neighborhood nicknamed "Millionaire's Row." It was one of the major centers of social life in Huntington in the early 1900s. The mansion became infamous in 1936 when Enslow's widow Juliette Buffington Enslow was found murdered in her bedroom. The murder and subsequent trial of her son Charles Baldwin for the crime was widely publicized and sensationalized. Baldwin was ultimately found not guilty, and the crime remains a mystery. In 1937 R. R. Steele acquired the mansion and converted it into a funeral home. It was destroyed in a fire in 1977.

6. The Coin Harvey House

The "Coin" Harvey House was built in 1874 for William Hope "Coin" Harvey (1851-1936), a leading advocate of monetary reform at the turn of the century and a third-party candidate in the Presidential election of 1932. This two-story dwelling is similar to some of the historic homes in New Orleans with stained glass windows, a cast iron mantel, and a beamed ceiling in the dining room. This historic home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In recent years, local residents have worked to restore the historic home, a project that continues to this day.

7. Campbell-Hicks House

Located at the northeast intersection of Fifth Avenue and Eleventh Street, the Campbell-Hicks House is one of Huntington, West Virginia’s most distinctive Victorian homes. It was built in 1896 for Charles W. Campbell, a lawyer who became involved in local politics and served as the mayor of Huntington from 1919 to 1922. Campbell’s home was designed in the eclectic Queen Anne style, with its rounded turret, stone detailing, and front porch held up by Ionic columns. After Campbell relocated to his native Monroe County in 1924, the house was purchased by Dr. Ira Hicks, a prominent physician and West Virginia state senator. In 1943, the house passed to Dr. Hicks’s daughter, who occupied the house until her death in 1982. The property was briefly owned by the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington before it was sold to local businessman Tom Wolf in 1985. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places that same year. Today, the Campbell-Hicks House stands as one of the few remaining Victorian homes that once lined the streets of downtown Huntington.

8. Johnston-Meek House

The Johnston-Meek House was first constructed in 1832 by Henry Clark. It passed through several different owners in the following three decades before being purchased in 1863 by John L. Johnston, part of a prosperous Irish farming family in the area. It is speculated that the home may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad, though this has not been substantiated. The venerable house saw its first major architectural additions after it was purchased by attorney John E. Meeks in 1919. These renovations were designed by local architect Sidney L. Day; the house is believed to be his only surviving residential work in Huntington. In 2017 the property was purchased by the Children's Home Society of West Virginia, which now preserves the site and uses it for office facilities. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

9. Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel House (Ensign-Seelinger House)

The Ensign-Seelinger House was modeled after the Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel House featured at the “Homes of Tomorrow” exhibit of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Commissioned by Good Housekeeping Magazine and Stran-Steel Corporation, and designed by architects O’Dell and Rowland, this home was marketed to be pre-fabricated, fireproof, and affordable at the cost of $7,900. The home was unique for its construction materials, such as its lightweight steel frame and baked iron enamel exterior, as well as for its streamlined Art Deco aesthetic. Huntington native Darwin Ensign and his wife saw the Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel House in Chicago, purchased its plans, and completed their own version of the home in 1935. Added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the 9th Street West Historic District in 1980, the Ensign-Seelinger home is situated next to the Chester-Parsons home in Huntington's Old Central City.

10. The Prichard House

In 1909, Frederick C. Prichard and his wife Alice moved to Huntington, where they established themselves as prominent figures in the community by developing sections of its downtown. The couple decided to build an impressive Italian Renaissance-style house in 1921, which became the only granite house in the surrounding residential area. During the Great Depression, the Prichards lost their fortune and were forced to move to Texas to support themselves financially. Since then, the Prichard House has passed through several different owners, who each updated the house while preserving much of its original appearance. Today the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains in use as a private residence.

11. Kenwood

Kenwood, also known as the John A. Shepherd House, was completed in 1910. The residence was one of the first and finest homes in the Park Hills Subdivision, Huntington's first planned neighborhood. Kenwood was designed by prominent architect Harry Rus Warne in the Neoclassical Revival style. It was built for John A. Shepherd, a lawyer-turned-oil and gas developer, although Shepherd declared bankruptcy and left Huntington not long after Kenwood's completion. Businessman Charles Watts then purchased the home in 1918. After Watts’ widow passed away in 1947, the house sat vacant for twenty years until it was purchased by Jack Jenkins in 1967. Jenkins began the process of restoring and modernizing Kenwood, which has been continued by the Oliashirazi family, who purchased the home in 2006. The home, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, is still a private residence and is not open to the public.

12. The Freeman Estate

The Freeman Estate is a historic mansion on the hill overlooking Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia. The home was built between 1912 and 1914 by Charles Hughes Freeman, a pioneer in oil and gas development in southern West Virginia. Originally from New York, Freeman came to West Virginia in 1901 as the lawyer of W.H. Yawkey. The two men recognized the untapped potential of the oil and natural gas resources of the state’s southern counties and established a company that grew to own 40,000 acres of land. In 1912, Freeman and his wife moved to Huntington and commissioned the construction of a massive Craftsman Style estate on approximately 250 acres just south of the growing city. Designed by renowned architect Verus T. Ritter, the Freeman house was fitted with the finest furnishings. After Freeman’s death in 1920, his family and descendants occupied the house until the late 1970s. Although the estate now occupies only 42 acres of the original 250, it is one of the few surviving “grand estates” of early twentieth-century Huntington. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

13. Frick House

Huntington, West Virginia experienced a period of rapid growth between 1900 and 1930, as new businesses and factories opened and residential construction attempted to keep pace. The city’s first elite suburb, Park Hills Subdivision No. 1, was established in 1913 on the south side of Huntington. The Frick House was one of the largest homes built in this suburb. Completed in 1928 for industrialist Omar T. Frick, the two-story home was designed by local architect Edward J. Handloser in the Tudor Revival style. Originally from Indiana, Frick was the founder of the Standard Ultramarine Company, whose Fifth Avenue plant covered twenty acres and employed more than five hundred workers by the mid-1920s. Frick, who was a prominent figure in the industrial and social life of Huntington, lived in the house until his death in 1949. In 2006, the Frick House was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hawthorne Historic District. Together with the district’s other residences, the Frick House attests to Huntington’s economic prosperity and architectural development during the early twentieth century.

14. Ricketts House

The Ricketts House, located at 2301 Washington Boulevard, is the finest residential work of prominent Huntington architect Levi Johnson Dean. Dean designed over one hundred buildings in Huntington, eastern Kentucky, and southern West Virginia, and was a master of several different architectural styles. Completed in 1925, the Ricketts House was built for John G. Ricketts, a landowner involved in the residential development of south Huntington. Ricketts’ home was designed as a hybrid of the Tudor Revival and Prairie architectural styles, with its false thatch roof but long, low form and stone walls. Four years after the house’s construction, Ricketts met financial ruin and the house was sold to Samuel Biggs, who lived there until 1946, when it was purchased by Dr. Francis A. Scott. Dr. Sarah Louise Cockrell Stevens and her husband purchased the Ricketts House in 1954 and had the residence added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Although alterations have been made to the home by its various owners, its historic character has largely been preserved over time.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Historic Houses of Huntington Tour

Created by Emma Satterfield on March 16th 2020, 4:58:22 pm.

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Discover the history behind Huntington’s finest homes with this tour. Starting at the Buffington-McGinnis House, the oldest residence in Cabell County, and ending with the Freeman Estate near Ritter Park, the houses on this tour demonstrate how the city of Huntington developed from its founding in 1871 through the early decades of the twentieth century. Many of these homes also reflect how American architectural styles have evolved over time, from the Federal-style Buffington-McGinnis House, which was built in 1816, to the Art Deco-style Good Housekeeping Stran-Streel House (Ensign-Seelinger House), which was completed over a century later in 1935. While many of these homes have been restored and remain in use as private residences, several have not been as well-preserved, and others, such as the Enslow Mansion, have been demolished.

Entries on This Tour

Historic Houses of Huntington Tour

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