Object Record
Images
Additional Images [75]
Metadata
Object Name |
House |
Donor |
Bedstemors, Inc. |
Description |
Two story Victorian home with partial unfinished basement. On the main floor are four full rooms. One enters the home from the open front porch into the "welcome center" which is situated in the northeast corner (formerly the dining room). Continuing to one's right is the parlor, in the northwest corner. In the southwest corner is the dining room (formerly a bedroom). Finally, in the southeast corner is the kitchen. Off the kitchen is an enclosed backporch, though originally open. Just to the left of the door to the backporch is a door to a closet space that doubles as the trap door to the small basement. The basement is a very small unfinished space. The water heater is located here and one can see under the house through the crawl space. The upstairs consists of the landing at the top of the stairs, a sort of short diagonal hallway, a closet, and three bedrooms. The closet is located at the top of the stairs and to the right, just outside the woman's bedroom. The latter is located in the northeast corner. The child's room is located in the southwest corner, and the final room, unfinished and used as storage and exhibit space, is in the northwest corner. The house is surrounded by fencing on the east, north, and west. The original garage was removed after 1997 and sat at the southwest corner of the property. The front porch decking was replaced in May 2013 by Renaissance Restoration of Galena, IL. The old decking had rotted beyond repair and drainage was an issue. The decking was replaced with Aeratis PVC Porch Flooring. Under the decking a new frame was added, new drainage rock, and the porch posts have new bases. |
Made By |
Christiansen, Jens Otto |
Creation Date |
1908 |
Place Of Origin |
USA/IA/Elk Horn |
Owned By |
Christiansen, Jens Otto/Mortensen, Meta |
Used By |
Christiansen, Jens Otto/Mortensen, Meta |
Material |
wood/metal/glass/shingles |
Associated People |
Christiansen, Jens Otto Mortensen, Meta |
Search Terms |
Christiansen, Jens Otto Mortensen, Meta Elk Horn, Iowa Shelby County victorian bedstemor grandmother Elk Horn Kimballton Arts Alliance |
Provenance |
Bedstemors Hus, or Grandmother's House, was built in 1908 by Jens Otto Christiansen, a Danish immigrant and Elk Horn businessman. He was often referred to as "Prince Otto" because he wore a coat with tails and a tall hat when going to church, and he walked very straight. According to local stories, he built the house as an engagement gift for a young woman who sadly turned down his marriage proposal. It is unknown if Christiansen ever lived in the home himself, but he rented the home to several families until he sold it to the Salem Old People's Home in 1933 for "one dollar and other valuable contributions." In 1946, the house was sold to Meta Mortensen, also of Danish descent. She lived in the home for 36 years, making only a few notable changes. The roses that she planted along all four sides of the house still bloom. In 1982, Meta sold the house to the Elk Horn-Kimballton Arts and Recreation Council for $8800. The Council and many area volunteers spent a year restoring the home to reflect the turn of the century. They named it "Bedstemor's House", using the Danish word for "Grandmother", in honor of Meta Mortensen who was herself a Danish-American grandmother. The House opened to the public in July of 1983, and a formal dedication was held October 1. Meta Mortensen was the guest of honor. It was after 1983 that the front porch was reconstructed and the exterior of the home was repainted from the white that Meta had had to the original two-tone green. The only modern room was just off the kitchen. Formerly Meta's bedroom, the room became the office for staff and has remained as such. The Council operated the house for seven years until it was donated to the Museum in 1990. Minutes from the Board of Directors meeting in February that year show that the donation was accepted for the Museum. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 16, 1997. The Museum continues to operate Bedstemor's House as an historic house museum, interpreting the home in its first decade. The home is located at 2105 College Street in Elk Horn on its original foundation. On June 25, 2008, the Museum held a dedication for the new tombstone for Jens Otto Christiansen who had not had a formal stone until then. It marked the centennial of the house. The ceremony was held at the Elk Horn Cemetery and a reception at Bedstemors House followed. _______ Jens Otto Christiansen spent the last 15 years of his life at the Salem Lutheran Home, then known as the Old People's Home. He died of cancer at the age of 84 on November 1, 1949. He was buried in Elk Horn Cemetery. Meta Mortensen, the final resident of the home, was born in Denmark in 1893, and immigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1899, settling in Exira, Iowa. In 1912, she married Peter E. Mortensen, and the couple farmed near Hamlin and Kimballton until his death in 1945. Meta purchased the house in early 1946 and moved in, living there until 1981. Most of those years, she worked at the Salem Lutheran Home. The Eric Hansen family were long-time residents of Elk Horn, having run Hansen's Meat Market beginning in the 1910s. Eric had emigrated from Denmark and his butcher shop took orders from all over the U.S. For years, Jens Otto Christiansen, the builder of Bedstemors House, bought a ham and slab of bacon once a month. After the Alfred Hansen family moved out, the Eric Hansen family moved in to Bedstemors House, this being sometime during World War II. Eric died in the parlor in 1944. Possibly around May 1946, Mrs. Hansen moved into an apartment in the dime store in town. The Hansen's were the last renters of the house. Following their move, Meta M. (Petersen) Mortensen bought the house and moved in. During her later years, she mostly lived downstairs, leaving the upstairs for guests and storage. Her bedroom was in the southwest room on the main floor. She had a clothesline, toolshed, and garden in the backyard, and was especially proud of the rose bushes around the house. She also enjoyed cooking a very Danish meal at Christmas. |
Date Received by Museum |
1990 |
Images |
158\1990060001.JPG |
Accession number |
1990.060 |
Object Identification Number |
1990.060.001 |