Cliff Manor shines again after stunning renovations.

Celebrating 160 years of gracing Cliff Street bluff top, Cliff Manor is a blend of history, charm, and mystery. It is among the oldest houses in Jefferson City and one of its grandest.

History

The home was built in 1866 for Judge Arnold Krekel, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a U.S. District Judgeship in the Western District of Missouri just weeks before Lincoln was assassinated. Krekel moved to Jefferson City from the St. Charles area with his wife, Ida, and four children.

Krekel had immigrated with his family in 1832 to the United States from Prussia when he was 17 years old. He dabbled in different enterprises, including working as a justice of the peace, surveyor, lawyer, and newspaper editor. It was through the German newspaper, the St. Charles Demokrat, that he found expression for his abolitionist views, at a time when this was unpopular and even dangerous.

The Civil War had ended by the time he moved to Jefferson City, and he devoted himself to advancing educational opportunities for freed slaves. He was one of the founders of the Lincoln Institute.

Krekel lived on Cliff Street for only 10 years, moving after his children had grown and his wife had died. Later, he remarried and moved to Kansas City. He served on the federal bench for 23 years.

Charm

The house was eventually transformed into apartment rentals and then later a bed and breakfast. It cycled through many owners and renovations over the years. The current owners, Tara and Tim McVey, have breathed new life into this historical treasure.

Their original plans when they bought it in 2019 were to renovate it for short-term rentals for its uniqueness and location. But, falling in love with the home, they moved in and lived there during the renovation. With the eye of a detective, Tim has uncovered many secrets within the walls.

Tim speculates that the original staircase was moved and has uncovered the woodwork of a narrower staircase. The original spindles and newel posts have been replaced by craftsmen’s style woodwork.

The home originally had two kitchens connected by a walled garden. The main kitchen served the living quarters, and the summer kitchen (now the shop and potting shed) provided a place for food preservation.

Cliff Manor also has a widow’s walk at its tallest point, allowing one to gaze over the terrain below. Traditionally, this was a high perch on a house overlooking the river or sea so that mariners’ wives could watch for their husbands as they returned from their long and perilous journeys. Obviously, this high platform was not built for this purpose, but it was used to service four of the home’s six chimneys. Each chimney served two cast-iron Franklin stoves, which provided heat through cold Missouri winters.

Getting up to the widow’s walk was a challenge and required squeezing through an 18″ x 24″ crawl space in the ceiling. The McVeys wanted to be able to access the amazing view and cozy space at the top more easily, so they added a small spiral staircase.

But some features of the home, such as the 12′ ceilings in the great room and great hall and the 18″ thick brick interior and exterior walls, remain untouched.

Mystery

There have also been paranormal visitors reported. They are not threatening, but are often mischievous. One renter reported missing and broken things and mysterious noises, even though the house was otherwise vacant. Bed and breakfast guests once reported seeing a woman enter the front door and go upstairs, where she disappeared. Another time, she appeared before a guest in his suite.

It is common for Native American burial mounds to be found on Cole County bluff tops. In Goodspeed’s 1889 “Cole County History,” Judge Krekel reported that on the lot where his house was built, “a mound was excavated in which were found the moldering skeleton of a large man and three or four smaller bodies.” Do these restless souls still lurk about?

Another mystery revolves around legends that there was an underground tunnel below the house. When and why was it built? Was it a cistern? Was it built before 1866 under an earlier building that sat there, perhaps, used during the Civil War or earlier? Maybe it was built later, during the prohibition era, to hide moonshine? Its purpose, contents, and where it leads remain a mystery.

Will this grand home reveal more of its secrets with time? Only time will tell as Cliff Manor continues to share its story, one carefully restored detail at a time