One of the last two homes built on the block, it was purchased partially completed by Harry L. Gerson, vice president of the State Exchange Bank. Gerson completed the job and lived in the home until 1917, when he and his wife moved to the Skirvin Hotel.

The architectural style is an adaptation of Mission, one of the Colonial Revival variations sweeping the nation. The designer included typical Mission elements such as red tiles, stucco finish, curvilinear gables, and arches with less typical features such as exposed rafter tails, a hipped roof, and three sleeping porches. Inside, a large curved stairway greets visitors, while the dining room features six-foot high panels of tiger oak.

In 1917 the Gersons sold the house for $25,000 to Frank & Merle Buttram, Frank was one of the state’s rapidly rising oilmen. He was born in 1886 on a small farm in the Chickasaw Nation in Love County and grew up near Shawnee, Oklahoma. He attended Central State (now the University of Central Oklahoma) and received his degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1910, where he worked with the Oklahoma Geological Survey and published a bulletin that detailed the value of geology in locating oil and gas fields, logging formations, and defining structures.

Merle Newby Buttram was born in Kansas in 1884 and moved with her family to Guthrie when she was in high school. Her mother promised that if she would practice the violin before school, her siblings would do the dishes. The young musician flourished in her talent. By the time she was a junior in high school, she was traveling to Seward, Navina, and Purcell, Oklahoma, to teach music courses. She received two degrees from the University of Oklahoma and studied the violin in Italy and France. Frank and Merle were married in 1914.

Frank Buttram once pitched for the University of Oklahoma baseball team against the Detroit Tigers and struck out baseball great Ty Cobb three times – it was a record never equaled as long as Cobb was in the majors!

In 1914 Frank created a partnership with the state geologist, D.W. Ohern, and attorney A.P. Crockett, and organized the Fortuna Oil Company where he was chief biologist. They enjoyed immediate success with the first seven of its eight wells. Frank was a millionaire when the firm was sold in 1918 and he founded Buttram Petroleum Company, one of the nation’s largest oil operators at the time.

Three years after buying their home on 14th, Frank sold his stock in Fortuna and created the Buttram Oil Company, which made major strikes in the oil fields of Texas and California. In 1929 he capped his business career with a major interest in the Oklahoma City Field.

Frank devoted the rest of his life to civic and business activities across Oklahoma and was a member of such committees as the State Board of Regents for Higher Education, the board of First Christian Church, and the international board of the Disciples of Christ. He was also Oklahoma’s Republican nominee for Governor in 1932.

Merle was a professor of violin at OU from 1904 -1914. As a soloist, she performed in concert tours and holiday events with the OU orchestra and glee club. She became the leading patron of the arts working extensively with the Oklahoma City Board of Education to establish a string music program, which was fully organized in 1949. She also served as chairman of the YWCA Board and helped develop the Oklahoma City Symphony.

The Buttrams raised five children in the home, twins Merle and Myron, Harold, Donald and Dorsey.

At Christmastime, the Buttrams displayed an original Madonna oil painting on their porch, complete with lights, music, and police to keep the traffic flowing past.

In 1938 they moved out of the neighborhood when they built a grand mansion in Nichols Hills. In 1942 one of their sons, Myron Buttram, moved into the house on 14th Street, and lived there a few years until it was sold to Dr. and Mrs. Harry Wolohan.

Frank Buttram was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1940. Merle was also inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1964. Frank died at age 80 in 1966. Merle died in 1971 at the age of 87.

The Wolohans lived in the house for 24 years, then sold it to Mike & Erlene Parr in 1966. Mike, and oilfield equipment broker, and Erlene, an educational specialist, restored the original nursery, updated the kitchen, repaired exterior walls, and rebuilt the garage. For many years, Mike and Erlene enjoyed displaying Mike’s antique cars during the Home Tour.

Current owners have done an extensive renovation of the home inside and out and have provided photos of their beautiful home.

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