Built of brick in 1855 and 1856, the Ira and Asenath Sturdevant house is one of the oldest surviving dwelling in Waverly, Iowa. Sold outside the Sturdevant family after Ira’s widow, Asenath, died in 1867, descendants repurchased it at a sheriff’s sale on April 14, 2009, creating a 5013c non profit organization and local board.
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Led by descendants of Ira and Asenath, the project is restoring the house at 502 1st Street SW to approximate its original appearance. It is open to the public as a community, educational, living-history site.
The Ira & Asenath Sturdevant House
The June 2008 Cedar River flood filled the original cellar and damaged 150-year-old plaster and bricks on the first floor. Grant funds sponsored mold remediation in the cellar during summer 2009. In May 2010, project members scraped plaster, mortar, and crumbling brick from the brick that will survive and repaired exterior features. In July 2010, we began to remove modern wallboard and framing from the first-floor interior, exposing door casings, window frames, the kitchen chimney, and the original location of the stairs to the upper floor. In October, project members painted the trim to preserve it from further disintegration. During the fall Waverly salvage campaign by Preservation Iowa and AmeriCorps youth, they set aside materials salvaged from other flood-damaged, historic houses in Waverly for later use in the Sturdevant house project.
A Living History Project
The Ira and Asenath Sturdevant House Board sincerely appreciates your financial support of ongoing efforts to preserve one of the few houses that were original to Waverly’s earliest days.Over the past two years we have hosted an increasing number of events and tours at the house, telling its story of the past and our goals for it becoming a living history museum. Now, we have a brick wall to fix. Will you join us in giving to support this project? Go to the website below or open the QR Code-If you have a Venmo account:Will you join us in giving to support this project https://venmo.com/u/Sturdevanthouse?fbclid=IwY2xjawFVyelleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHe1Q1BbrXj2uKEbSkwzmfioILEmkT65tKg9S8qCNfcWs4wTgfQKCeOk11Q_aem_sSpCT8ptpVv9werEzZEMaA
1. Open your camera on your phone or ipad 2. zoom in on the QR code in comments so it's in the picture 3. Click on the yellow tag (Venmo) that comes on your screen to go to the Venmo Site. 4. Search IRA Sturdevant House if it doesn't pop up 5. Enter your donation amount and Donate
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