Glessner-Stifel House

 

 

This neoclassical brick home was built by William L. Glessner in 1902. Glessner was president of the Laughlin Nail Company – at the time the largest cut nail factory in the world. He became vice-president of the Whitaker-Glessner Company the same year that this home was built. He also served as president of the Laughlin-Junction Steel Company and Portsmouth Steel Works and was a director of the Wheeling Corrugating Company. Following the home wedding of his daughter Mary to Lee Cunningham Paull in 1910, Glessner sold the home to the George E. Stifel family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stifel was a son a textile entrepreneur John L. Stifel. George worked for a time as a clerk in Stone and Thomas before joining Fred C.H. Schwertfeger in the late 1870s to launch the George E. Stifel Company, one of Wheeling’s most outstanding dry goods stores. The store was described as being to Wheeling “what Marshall Field’s was to Chicago.” In the late 1920s, Stifel funded a plan to award cash prizes to Wheeling students who achieved excellence in grades 5-12. Those awards are still presented today.After George and his wife Emma died in the 1930s, their daughter Alberta remained in the house until her death in 1962. In 1964, the home was purchased by the First Christian Church, and a new church building was constructed in front of the home. Lou and Jane Costanzo of Costanzo & Associates, CPAs, purchased the home and converted it for office use in 2002.

 

Architectural details such as the winding staircase, stained glass windows, and beautifully designed moldings, wainscoting, and oak paneling were retained in keeping with the building’s location in the National Road Corridor Historic District. Exterior features include the two-story porch with four Corinthian columns and a second floor circular balcony. The front entrance features a fanlight transom. A porch added to the south side of the house was originally the porte co-chere – a covered driveway allowing guests to leave carriages and later automobiles and enter the house under cover.In earlier years, the home was known for its lovely gardens. An article in the July 1929 Wheeling Daily News includes the following description:The very lovely out-of-doors at the George E. Stifel home is indescribable and must be seen to be perfectly enjoyed. The Stifels have done so much with their several acres in all kinds of growth.