I Heart History: The Huhn-Harrison Home

In case you didn't know, I have this "thing" for historic buildings and war-time stories. I'm a tad obsessed with learning the stories behind a historic structure, and the people that lived there before. Recently my husband and I toured two historic buildings in our area, the Esquire Theatre, and the Huhn-Harrison House. We learned of the Huhn-Harrison House from some friends of ours who might be interested in purchasing it. I hope they do!

The Huhn-Harrison Home is located right across from the River Campus in Cape and is currently on the market for $105,000. The actual construction of the River Campus was made possible by B.W. Harrison and Hazel Huhn-Harrison who lived in the home and donated money to the University for the sale of the property that the River Campus now lies on. When B.W. Harrison passed away in 2004, he left his home to the University and it has sat vacant ever since. I've heard that some Cape Girardeau residents are outraged that the home is not being put to use or taken care of since its owners gave everything they had to the University after they passed. Check the comments out in this article.

The Huhn-Harrison home was built in 1905 by Rudolph Huhn, a business man and local bar owner. The home was for many years called "The house Rudy built for his bride." Mr. and Mrs. Huhn had one child, Hazel, who lived in the house with her husband B. W. Harrison after her parents passed away. So, the home has only been lived in by the same family since it's construction, 106 years ago.

When we entered the house, I immediately felt deja-vu. If you're unfamiliar with this term, then I'm sorry because it's a tad hard to explain haha. I just felt like I'd been in the house before, or that I'd had a dream once about being there. Anyway, deja-vu is a very strange feeling and it gave me massive goosebumps. The home has it's original hardwood floors and architectural designs. The upstairs is completely unfinished and a HUGE space with potential for either a master suite or a couple extra bedrooms.

I fell in love with the wallpaper, the huge wrap-around front porch, and all the doors in the home. The 12 foot ceilings are a rare find in an older home as well. They say that the ceilings were built tall to have natural ventilation, which is why the home doesn't have air conditioning. Open all the windows and doors up in this place and the breeze flows perfectly!

After leaving the house, I couldn't stop thinking about the family that lived here and the life they lived. It made me feel like I belonged with them. Is that strange? I felt this odd connection to a family that I had never even met.

I hope that someone will buy this home and live there. I hope they will keep the house mostly the same as it is now, wallpaper and all. I hope they raise a family there, and laugh and cry together there. Just like the Huhn's and Harrison's did.

Who knows, maybe the Huhn-Harrison home will be our next business adventure?