Endangered: Reimann-Schoeneman House

Most Endangered 2016: The Reimann-Schoeneman House located at 1119 Locust Street in Hull was built in 1912.

Most Endangered 2016: The Reimann-Schoeneman House located at 1119 Locust Street in Hull was built in 1912.

Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: Reimann-Schoeneman House (Hull, Sioux County)

The Reimann-Schoeneman House is locally historically significant due to its association with Edward Herman Reimann and his wife, Nannie Schoeneman and their philanthropic and commercial development with Iowa State Bank and Schoeneman Lumber Company in Iowa and the Midwest.  The property is also significant as an excellent example of late 19th and 20th Century Revival residential architecture.

Edward H. was always interested in the welfare of the community and served as mayor and on the city council. Edward H. not only helped start the Iowa State Bank, he also worked in the organization for 54 years. Edward H. died April 11, 1940. His funeral service was said to be “impressive”. He was buried at Hope Cemetery in Hull, Iowa.

Maybelle (daughter of Edward and Nannie Schoeneman Reimann) graduated from the Hull High School in 1913 and attended the University of Iowa, Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. In the 1930s, Maybelle returned to nurse her sick mother and stayed in the house until February 1982. Maybelle taught piano lessons in the home for over 40 years. The house was empty for a few years until Maybelle’s great niece and her husband moved in and stayed for 22 years. When they moved out, the family completely cleaned out the house. Some of the rooms had not been cleaned out since the family first moved in; some had not been touched since the 1930s.

The residence is in very good condition considering that it has been unoccupied for the past few years. The exterior of the house needs to be fixed as do few windows. The roof will need replacing. The interior of the residence is in very good condition. However, there will be some areas in need of repair after the residence is moved to a new site.

The property is owned by Boyden Hull Community School. Its plans are to utilize this space for the growing school district. The school doesn’t have plans for the land as of yet but within the next 6 months, plans will be developed and the house will be destroyed. The Hull Historical Society has come to an agreement with the City of Hull that the house could be moved and placed on a property that the City owns. The City is requiring the Society to come up with the money to move the property and restore the property to show that there is an interest in saving the house. Currently the society was able to raise $80,000 in funds and in-kind donations. The society is in need of another $250,000 dollars to move the property and to show that the property will be taken care of rather than left in its current condition.

Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered Property program was started in 1995 and implemented to educate Iowans about the special buildings and historic sites that are slowly and gradually slipping away from us.  In the past 20 years, Preservation Iowa has designated over 140 archaeological sites, churches, landscapes and a variety of other buildings.

The full list of Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Properties includes: