Kivlehen House Receives Honors

The recently restored Kivlehen House, at 525 N. Jackson in Edmond, received special recognition from the Oklahoma Historical society at its statewide awards presentation ceremony and banquet June 5 at the E.W. Marland Mansion in Ponca City.

Mariana Lloyd and her business partner/son, Benjamin Floyd, accepted The Citation of Merit, which is awarded annually to individual, organizations, agencies or firms that have made important contributions in the preservation of Oklahoma’s rich heritage. Benjamin Floyd Homes, owned by Benjamin Floyd, was the general contractor. Mariana Lloyd is the owner.

The Kivlehen House is a Colonial Revival style house situated in the heart of downtown Edmond. Construction began in 1902 and completed in 1907 by James D. Kivlehen, the postmaster of Edmond in 1916, as well as a banker at Citizens Bank of Edmond, and his wife Mattie. The home was built from Plan Number 582, of the Keith Company Architects in Minneapolis, Minn. They had one daughter named Coleen Kivlehen who inherited the home from her parents. Coleen Kivlehen sold the home in 1993.

Little had been done to restore the home throughout the years and it was in need of major repair, including heating, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, windows, painting and stabilizing the structure.

 Working closely with the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, Lloyd’s project adapted the 3,000 square-foot, three-story house into an Edmond branch office for Keller Williams Realty.

 The rehabilitation work included installation of an automatic fire sprinkler system to meet code requirements for the new use, and the work qualified the owners for the federal and state rehabilitation tax credits.

“It is a long, time-consuming, but rewarding process. It has taken us more than 3 1/2 years to get to this point,” Lloyd said. “One of the requirements is that the property must be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. In our case, it was perfect because we are a branch office of Keller Williams Realty; we sell homes. This was a perfect opportunity to have a beautiful office that once was a beautiful home.

 “It has created a lot of interest. We have people ask on a weekly basis to view the home. Sometimes, they just want to know the colors we used on the outside,” she said.

 Pare of the restoration requirements were that none of the historic materials on the outside could be removed, but instead had to be repaired, if possible, instead of replaced.

“Where the severity of deterioration required replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature had to match the old in design, color, texture and other visual qualities, and where possible materials,” Lloyd said.

“Several of the windows had to be replaced. We found a company out of Wewoka, who could remake the windows to look identical to the others. Some of the walls and ceilings had to be removed because of extensive termite damage or because of structural reasons.”

One structural problem was a wall in the kitchen was removed, causing a 3-inch sag in that area of the home. Lloyd and the restorers had to brace the floor from the basement with steel bracing and rebuild the wall. In addition, all of the kitchen cabinets and some of the butler’s pantry cabinets were replaced.

“However, you can hardly tell where the old starts and the new begins. We had fabulous craftsmanship who worked with us closely to replicate what was there,” Lloyd said.

No chemical or physical treatments such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials could be used.

“The old paint on the exterior was hand scraped and repainted. The front porch and back porch had to be completely rebuilt and all of the interior doors and hardware were brought back to their original luster.”

“The basement had major problems with water infiltration. A company out of Kansas City was hired through Basement Contractors to waterproof the basement,” Lloyd said.

The second floor dormer on the west side was expanded to twice its size, but it was approved by the Historical society before the work as done.

“One of the major obstacles we had to overcome was the parking lot. The National Park Service was very concerned of the parking along the south side and front of the building. They preferred it to be located on the West side (at the back of the property). Since the City of Edmond has requirements to meet as well, they City and the National Park Service had to agree as to what would work,” Lloyd said.

 “Ben and I are proud to be part of the rehabilitation of this Edmond landmark. It is our heritage preserved. Our hope is that the steps we have taken toward preserving this area will encourage others to do the same,” she said.