Refined GoldOmaha 's Gold Coast is an Architectural Legacy.
Story by Jeff Barnes Photography by Jeff Barnes and Bobbi and Steve Olson |
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"A MAN'S HOME IS HIS CASTLE" goes the expression and in Omaha, from the 1880s through the 1920s, the expression was taken to heart. In some cases the mansions men built were castles, but in any case what remains of their neighborhoods has become a treasure known as the Gold Coast.
Omaha transitioned from a frontier town to a major United States city in this period, experiencing fantastic growth in population (from 91st largest U.S. city in 1880 to 21st by 1900) and in income. Men were making money in Omaha and they were making it fast – in banking, railroads, meat packing, brewing, wholesaling and in a multitude of industries and investments.
These were the years before there was an income tax. People didn't have to be shy about their possessions and they weren't – they built fabulous, ornate, expansive and sometimes incredible homes for their families. Many probably saw themselves as building dynasties, requiring estates that reflected their prominence and power in Omaha .
They commissioned Omaha 's best architects – who in some instances were among the nation's best – to design their mansions. The architects drew upon the predominant styles of their day: Jacobethan, late Gothic Revival, Georgian Revival and Richardsonian Romaneque, for example, constructed predominantly of brick and stone.
They built their “castles” on the city's edge, today a 30-block area in Omaha 's midtown from 36th to 40th streets, and from Jones Street in the south to Cuming Street on the north. This was a suburban area sometimes called West Farnam , or the Blackstone neighborhood, or the Cathedral neighborhood depending upon its location, but collectively called the Gold Coast for the golden age from which it sprung.
When you drive into the Gold Coast – and there are no street signs to indicate that you have – there is an immediate realization that this is something different. “Who builds houses this big ?” you probably think as you pass mansion after mansion.
Then park your car on one of its streets shaded by century-old trees and get out and walk. You start to notice the detail on the houses – the ornamental brick on the chimneys, the added flourishes on the porches, the occasional gazebo and leaded-glass windows. “Who were these people?” is probably another question that pops into your mind.
The Gold Coast, says Thomas Kuhlman, an architectural historian at Creighton University who lives in the neighborhood, is a fantastic architectural experience. “There are a number of neighborhoods around the city with great examples of these types of homes, but this is the only one that is so densely packed, that is still thriving, that has so many good examples of not only fine homes, but of churches and schools,” he said. “It's the number one place of architecture in the city.”