Nearly 140 years later, did this Johnson County home maintain its architectural charm?
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With its Italianate flourishes and five porches, including one that’s been described as an onion or acorn, the Pickering House has been an Olathe landmark for nearly 140 years.
The rambling two-story house on Park Street (sometimes called New Liberty Hall) was built over a 10-year span starting in the 1870s.
It was the home of Isaac O. Pickering, a Ohio-born lawyer who’d served as a major in the Union Army. Pickering later served as mayor of Olathe for two terms.
He also ran for governor of Kansas on the Prohibition ticket. It’s a little ironic because the house, a few blocks from the Johnson County Courthouse, often served as a backdrop for grand gatherings and events.
Pickering died in 1923, but the property remained in the family until 1961. By then, the carriage house and some of the lavish plantings around it had already been removed.
In the 1990s, the Pickering House was added to the National Register of Historic Places and converted to a bed and breakfast that operated until 2003.
Unoccupied for several years after that, the aging structure deteriorated at an alarming rate. To the point that the city slated it for demolition in 2011.
Terry Presley, an Olathe resident who had long admired it in better times, purchased the home and began renovating the exterior in 2015. He told the Star in a 2018 article about his progress, and his plans for bringing the same loving care to an interior that includes such features as a curved walnut staircase.
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