Tate-Senftenberg-Brandon Home

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some houses just sit there. They hold their ground, they keep their secrets, and if you pay attention, they'll show you every hand they've ever been dealt.

The Tate-Senftenberg-Brandon Home in Colorado County is exactly that kind of house. It started modest. Around 1867, a man named Phocian Tate built himself a one-story cottage.

Just a cottage. Nothing fancy, nothing pretentious. But something about this particular piece of ground had a way of drawing bigger ambitions out of the people who came after.

In 1887, a merchant by the name of A. Senftenberg bought the place, and friend, that man did not think small. He went and added a second story.

Then he put porches on it. Then he dressed the whole thing up with Victorian ornamentation, the kind of detail that says to every passerby, somebody with taste lives here. The house had become something else entirely.

Then came 1900, and Kenneth Brandon bought the home and extended the northeast section, pushing the footprint out a little further, writing his own chapter into the walls. Three owners, three visions, and yet most of those early features are still right there if you know where to look. One thing in particular is worth slowing down for.

Down below all that Victorian finery, there is a basement built of Columbus-made brick. Local material, laid in the foundation, holding everything up. Then in 1968, the Magnolia Homes Tour bought the house with plans to restore it as a museum, with period furnishings, so the story those walls have been keeping all this time could finally be told to anyone willing to come through the door.

What the marker says

Originally a modest one-story cottage built about 1867 by Phocian Tate. Sold in 1887 to A. Senftenberg, merchant, who added second story and porches with Victorian ornamentation. In 1900 Kenneth Brandon bought home and extended northeast section. Most of early features still remain. Of interest is basement built of Columbus-made brick. In 1968 Magnolia Homes Tour bought house to restore it as a museum, with period furnishings.