Gerik Parmele photo

Katy and Hank Ottinger have lived at 511 Westwood Ave. since 1983. They have worked to make the home more modern while preserving historical elements.

When Hank and Katy Ottinger moved into their house in 1983, they had their work cut out for them.

"Nothing is predictable, nothing is square, nothing was anywhere near code," Hank said. "We’re still trying to catch up."

But they just had to have it. Hank had always admired the house, and Katy’s daughter Julie’s best friend lived next door. Six months after they moved in, they had their wedding in the greenhouse built off the side of the house.

The house, at 511 Westwood Ave., was built in 1923. For decades, it was the home of Gladys Wheat, an artist best known for her linoleum block prints who became the first female faculty member at the University of Missouri’s art department.

"She’s eccentric, as many good artists seem to be. She loved her art and her garden," Mrs. Robert Karsch, one of Wheat’s friends, said in a 1975 Tribune article.

Today, art and gardens are still prominent features of the house. Some of Wheat’s prints remain in the house, and Katy, a retired elementary school art teacher, displays her own paintings as well. Hank, who taught environmental studies at Westminster College, describes the backyard as a swale of undeveloped trees where wildlife thrives.

Wheat might have liked this. As Karsch told the Tribune, "She would never disturb something that was growing if it were especially beautiful."

Some of Wheat’s plants remain. Katy, who grew up a short distance from Wheat, remembers her as the Daffodil Lady, a nickname earned from the sea of yellow flowers growing in the backyard. The daffodils, along with Wheat’s peonies and Madonna lilies, still grow in the yard.

The Ottingers also have a cutting from a night-blooming cereus for which Wheat once threw flower-watching celebrations. "They’re still just blooming away," Katy said.

Since they bought the house, the Ottingers have worked to make it more modern. Five years ago, they remodeled the cramped galley into a more spacious kitchen. They’ve also built bigger closets and added a bathroom to the master bedroom, which originally served as Wheat’s studio. A sun tunnel in the bathroom and a tankless water heater help cut down on energy costs, and they are planning to pull up the floorboards in the living room to install insulation.

As the Ottingers update their home, there are some elements they preserve. There seems to be a motif of doubles throughout: double windows, double doors. When a door needed replacing, they found a French door to fit the nonstandard-size opening. They also have kept the wrought-iron stair railings, rumored to have come from New Orleans.

The house was built in a seemingly haphazard layout. The rooms aren’t arranged in any obvious order, but it suits the Ottingers.

"It probably reflects our own eclectic personalities," Hank said. "Most houses you walk into, you know where the bathroom is. You don’t have to ask. In our house, you need a road map."

Gerik Parmele photos
The Ottingers’ greenhouse area was the site of their wedding shortly after they moved in. Below, an angular stairwell and modernized bathroom are among the features inside the house.
The Ottingers’ home from outside.

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