This Victorian home was built in 1905 by James McKee and Maud Calhoun Owen. James was born in 1865 and was a native of Illinois. Maud was from Iowa. James settled first in frontier Kansas, then Oklahoma in 1889. He opened Owen and Welsh, Inc. a real estate abstract and loan business on Washington Street. He was a director of the American National Bank and the Oklahoma City Street Railway Company. He also served two terms on the city school board and joined the original Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

When the Owens moved into the home, the family consisted of five children, Myrtle, Earl, Fay, and Gertrude and one live-in house keeper, a 17-year-old Austrian immigrant.

The Owens favored the earlier styles of architecture. The home has strong Gothic Revival lines with an oversized centered gable and a steeply pitched roof. The exterior is covered with horizontal wood cladding. Wide concrete steps lead to the broad front porch which wraps around two sides of the structure and is supported by pairs of simple square columns bound by a decorative wooden balustrade. An ornamental wooden fret work railing adorns the roof of the porch and broad eaves and large symmetrically-placed windows complete the façade.

Inside the home the floor plan is decidedly Victorian in style: a large room extending across the front of the house, wide windows, an enclosed stairwell, a parlor, a dining room with a tall paneled dado, a breakfast room and kitchen. The house has very deep cove and baseboards as well as wide door casings which, in many cases, house pocket doors. On the second level are five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Another enclosed stairwell leads to the third floor which has large windows all around and is divided into two large rooms.

The Owen family remained in the home until 1950. In 1955, the home was purchased by Dr. James D. and Mary Mills. Born in 1904, James was a native of Oklahoma and a dentist. Mary, born in 1900, was a native of Georgia. They had two sons, James and Jack.

Frank & Mary Christian Martin purchased the home in the early 1990s and began renovations. Their home was featured on the 1994 Home Tour. This was the first time the tour featured a home that was in the midst of reconstruction so visitors could observe firsthand the process of renovating a vintage home. Mary Christian was the third generation of her family to live in Heritage Hills and Frank grew up both in Mesta Park and Putnam Heights.

The Martins added a new roof with metal ridge cap and completely remodeled the kitchen. They retained the yellow pine floors and original old style cabinets and hardware and added vintage style decorative tile countertops and backsplash. The second-floor bedrooms and bath were re-decorated and the third floor attic was converted into a cheerful children’s playroom for their three sons.

Kurt and Cristi Reiger are only the fourth owners of this residence. They bought the home in 1999 and have worked to restore and improve the home and featured it on the 2007 Home Tour.

The Reigers’ collection of antique furnishings complements the home’s style. They have stripped paint from woodwork and restored the distinctive tiger oak fireplace with its adjoining glass-front shelves. A couch and pair of chairs create a cozy sitting area before the fireplace. The connecting parlor features two separate pair of glass pocket doors and has an original hanging light fixture along with bookshelves and a full window seat that were added by the present owners. A center hall opens to stairways leading to the other floors and to the formal beamed-ceiling dining room. The walls of the dining room feature a high wood wainscot with fabric above. Under the stairs, on the lower level, is a guest bath with a stained glass window. The floors are richly finished wood, original to the home.

Next to the formal dining room, a cozy breakfast area with glass front cabinets leads into the updated kitchen with a large professional range at a center island. A unique solid surface countertop was manufactured in Italy and shipped to the home for installation. Gloss terra cotta and blue tiles form the kitchen backsplash and the wainscot at the breakfast area. Etched glass panels in the wall cabinet doors commemorate special events in the Reigers’ lives. In every way, this residence fits its current family’s lives just as it has served generations of residents before them.

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