Published: May 18, 2008 01:05 am            

Man who restored district’s first home still is making improvements

By Robert Barron

Staff Writer



Dan Wolever bought a home destined for demolition in the Kenwood Historic District for $2,200 and restored it. Now it is worth much more than $2,200.

He was the first to go into the Kenwood area, in the northwest downtown area, and purchase a home for remodeling. With the help of the older two of his four sons, Wolever gutted the house and remodeled it as a home for his wife and seven children.

Since that time, he began purchasing other old houses in the area, some of them because they were “crack houses,” and he wanted to get the undesirables out of the area.

He currently is working on a house at 403 W. Oak. With the help of his younger two sons, Ethan and Landen, he has done the floor and repainted inside the home. It was built in 1905 as a guest house to a larger home at 401 W. Oak, owned by historic home contractor Robbie Bangs.

Wolever plans to put balusters and columns back on the porch as they originally stood. The original house extended to the south, with a room added and shingles placed around the house like siding. He and his sons have removed the siding and will replace it as it originally appeared, he said.

He also has redone the roof. The person who purchased the house at 401 W. Oak plans to buy 403 W. Oak as a guest house. He will move from Enid’s west side to Kenwood, Wolever said.

“I love older neighborhoods and their character. I have lived in a new house that didn’t have a sidewalk. This has sidewalks that connect the neighborhood,” he said.

Like other residents of Ken-wood, Wole-ver’s goal is single-family dwellings, not rent houses.

Restoring a historic home is not a job for everyone, however. Wolever said it needs to be done by someone who knows what he or she is doing.

“You can’t start something without finding something else that needs to be done,” he said.

Wolever purchased his home in 1992 and placed a large trash container in the front yard. People along the street began cleaning up their own yards when they saw it.

“Those of us who like to do it call it our sickness. We always want to buy another house and do it. I’ve had five and sold two,” he said. “It’s taking a pig’s ear and making a silk purse.”