Cape's Harrison-Huhn house may become coffee shop, apartments

A Cape Girardeau historical landmark is off the housing market and being rehabilitated by a new owner.

Kevin and Dominique Priester bought the 106-year-old house at 340 S. Lorimier St. in early November from Mike and Paula Haas and Quinn Strong, who bought the house from the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation in June.

Priester went before the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning commission Nov. 9 to request that the property be rezoned from C-1 commercial -- which the university had implemented after the house was given to the foundation in 2004 -- to CBD, or central business district, which allows mixed commercial and residential use.

His initial plans are to transform the house into a coffee shop and apartment.

The house, also known as the Harrison-Huhn house, was donated to the foundation in 2004 by the family of B.W. Harrison, the house's former owner. The house was accompanied by $800,000 that was used to begin work on the River Campus. The university foundation put the house on the market this year. It could never determine a use for the house or devote funding to its rehabilitation.

The planning and zoning commission voted 7-0 to recommend the city council approve the request after a public hearing was held, and no one spoke in favor of or on opposition to it. The council will vote whether to approve the request after a public hearing is held Dec. 5.

Kevin Priester is remodeling the historic Harrison-Huhn house, which he recently purchased. The house was built in 1905 and is at 340 S. Lorimier St., near the River Campus. (Kristin Eberts)

Priester said he is still weighing options on what the definite use of the one-and-a-half-story Queen Anne-style house will be, but for now he has in mind a coffee house for the lower level and residential space on the upper level. Although he has owned the house for less than a month, he has already begun repairs by fixing a leaky roof and installing heating and air conditioning.

"It's a great house, but some of the things that happen from the house being left vacant will take some time to fix," he said.

The house has a significant amount of termite damage. Priester said he will continue working on the infrastructure of the house to keep its condition from worsening.

"I hope nobody is in a huge hurry to see the place transformed overnight, because that can't happen," he said.

Priester said he has some experience rehabilitating older structures because he and his wife have bought several over the years and he helped reconstruct the interior of the Discovery Playhouse. He is also a board member for the children's museum.

Paula Haas said in September that the house would not be sold to anyone who did not intend to rehabilitate it and that now she and her husband, as well as the other former co-owner, Quinn Strong, are thrilled a buyer with good intentions came through.

Haas, the owner of Somewhere in Time Antiques on Main Street in Cape Girardeau, said the house has its original interior and fixtures. Priester said he wants to be sure to retain the home's historic features during its rehabilitation.

The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been named a historic landmark by the city council.

Priester said he has always liked the house but wasn't aware of it being for sale until he read about it in a Southeast Missourian article.

While turning the old house into a coffee house and residential space is the direction he is leaning now, he is considering other options as well. He said he has thought some about possibly making the upper level an art gallery. Still, it's not completely out of the question that he and his wife could eventually make the house their private residence.

"The more time we spend down there, the more we like it," he said.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

340 S. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, MO