This charming clapboard, two-story Colonial Revival cottage was built in 1921 by G.A. Nichols and sold to Mr. & Mrs. N. Bert Smith. Bert came to Indian Territory as a young man and settled in the Tecumseh area, where he entered the cotton business and began buying land.

In the 1920s he was fortunate enough to discover oil on what had been considered scrub brush. After one year in the home, Smith rented it to Aldrich Blake, secretary to Governor Jack C. Walton, the controversial politician who was impeached in 1923. Apparently Blake went down with Walton, for he moved out of the home on 19th in 1924.

The home features a gabled roof, dormer windows with a distinctive weathervane, symmetrical fenestration and a screened-in porch on the east onto which the living room empties. The entry vestibule features exposed rafter tales.

The home is typical of the "Saddleback" floor plan in which a centrally located stairwell splits on a landing and leads to the living room on one side and the kitchen on the other. The focal point in the living room is the impressive mantle whose shelf is supported by beautiful corbels of heroic proportions. A frieze featuring wreath and garland pattern borders the ceiling. A double-cased opening leads to the dining room with six-paneled colonial doors. The kitchen has been redone to incorporate not only modern conveniences, but to still retain what must have been the feeling of the original kitchen.

Greg and Susan Koontz featured the home on the 1993 Home Tour.

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