The Demaree / Hench House

The Demaree, also, Hench House. 220 Market Street | An Icon of Newport's Post Civil War Economic Expansion. , The Demareee/Hench building epitomizes the town's growing affluence after 1865. Several of the community's leading citizens have resided here during the past 150 years., Newport businessman/attorney and Civil War Capt. Albert B. Demaree purchased the entire block from Shrub Alley to Third Street from real estate developer Joseph Tate in the 1860s., David L. Tressler, attorney, Lutheran theologian, and founder of the Loysville Soldiers Orphans' Home in 1865, purchased the house in 1869 for the then princely sum of $7,750. Ownership was shared with a former superintendent of the Home, W. H. Minick, married to David's sister, Sarah Tressler., In 1870, Tressler moved to Illinois to become a college president. Full title then conveyed to Minick. A business leader, he helped incorporate the Newport and Sherman's Valley Railroad, and served as a school director, Newport council president, delegate to the 1888 Democratic National Convention, and an 1894 Congressional candidate., At Minick's 1910 death, the house passed to daughter Emma Tressler Minick, a musician, who married her cousin, Arthur Scott, a New York City professional singer. Just two years later, Dr. Sam E. Whitmer paid $8,500 for the building and relocated his dental practice here: He enlarged the porch and added a second front door for his dental offices., after his death in 1926, his widow Belle rented lodging and office space to Blaine Bartho, M.D. and Edward P. Hewlings, D.D.S. In 1938, Belle sold the vacant property (middle lot) at 224 Market to Dr. Bartho and 220 Market to Dr. Hewlings. Dr. Hewlings removed the widow's walk and constructed a garage., After Hewlings' death in 1968, Newport teacher Donald P. Longsderff and his wife, Carolyn M. Longsderff, purchased the house for $15,100. In 1981, attorney Allen and Ellen Pennay Hench acquired the house from Mrs. Longsderff Swartz., Still reflecting the charm of a bygone age, the home features 12-foot ceilings, a winding 3-story staircase, elaborate mouldings, etched glass, early electric chandeliers, three fireplaces, and large wooden beams with wooden pegs in attic. In 1988, Hench, a 9th generation Perry Countian, also purchased 224 Market for his law office and then acquired 232 Market in 1994, reuniting the three properties to the original lot size of 1868., [Captions:] , The mid-19th century Italianate-Victorian structure at 220 Market Street originally featured a fenced widow's walk, ornate window boxes and a front stoop entrance., The house, showing its widow's walk and an extension bordering Shrub Street. Capt. B. F. Miller founded the hotel in the background, later known as the Graham Hotel., William and Sarah Minick ca. 1880., Allen and Ellen Hench 2017.