Next Wednesday s inauguration of Kamala Harris, a Black woman who will be the nation s second vice president of color, has brought heightened media attention to its first vice president of color Charles Curtis, a Native American from Topeka who held that office from 1929 to 1933.
Meanwhile, Curtis former mansion at 1101 S.W. Topeka Blvd. is for sale by the three siblings who inherited it from their parents, Don and Nova Cottrell, who each died recently after having restored the house.
The asking price is $750,000, The Topeka Capital-Journal learned Friday from Patty Dannenberg, who owns the house with her brothers, Gene Cottrell and James Cottrell.
CBS News
Remembering Charles Curtis, the first Native American vice president
two domes. My mom loved the house; it s probably one of the prettiest houses in Topeka, said Patty Dannenberg. Her parents, Nova and Don Cottrell, purchased the local landmark in 1993. It hadn t been well cared for. It needed a lot of work, Dannenberg said.
Although the couple was retired, they spent the next 25 years painstakingly restoring the home s parquet flooring, gleaming chandeliers and stained glass, eventually opening it to the public as a museum, dedicated to the man who once lived there: Charles Curtis.
Dannenberg said, I don t think many people around really knew much about him or realized how remarkable he was.