COLYOTT HOME HAS INTERESTING PAST

Violet and Norman Colyott stand under one of the heavy archways near the entrance hall of the White House. the couple bought the home in 1983 and have completed extensive restoration work in the ensuing years.

A second-story sunroom with pine floors is among the many interesting features of the 21-room White House.

What do Barnes Hospital, two well-known churches and Union Station in St. Louis have in common with the white, two-story home at 802 E. Washington St. in Jackson?

In addition to Romanesque architecture and a Missouri location, all were designed by the same man, Theodore E. Link, a native of Germany who moved to St. Louis and made quite a name for himself as an architect during the late 19th and early 20th century.

In the case of Union Station and the East Washington Street home, the two structures also have in common the fact that they fell into disrepair and were restored to their former glory during the last 15 years.

Today, the "White House," as it is known to many Jacksonians, is owned by Norman and Violet Colyott, who bought and restored the home in 1983. The structure is said to be an example of Romanesque architecture, a style which was experiencing a revival at the time the structure was built. Although Union Station or the Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis may be better examples of Link's interpretation of the style, many Romanesque characteristics are evident both inside and outside 802 E. Washington.

The perimeter of the White House forms a square with the front door placed at the flattened edge of the southwest corner. A front porch forms the corner with a stairway set at its very point. Closely-spaced columns, typical of Romanesque architecture, brace the second story overhang. On the second story, gabled roofs follow the east and north sides of the home, intersecting at the northeast corner.

Inside, the White House features other Romanesque features, including a number of heavy archways. The interior, with its expansive oak and pine floors, oaken archways and wainscotting, also bears testament to the value of good, old-fashioned American workmanship and the style of construction that was in vogue in the early 1900s.

Twenty-one rooms make up the residence, including sunrooms, a huge entrance hall, living rooms, a parlor, a large kitchen and a number of bedrooms.

The White House was constructed during the early years of the 20th century by prominent area businessman L.A. Goodwin.

Goodwin was the owner of a very successful poultry and egg supply business which he founded at Vienna, Ill., during the 1880s. According to Goodwin's grandson, James Goodwin of Alton, Ill., L.A. Goodwin elected to relocate his business to Lutesville in 1894. When the production of chickens, ducks and fresh eggs increased in the Jackson area after the turn of the century, Goodwin relocated his business once again, this time to Main Street in Jackson.

The Goodwin Company, as the concern was known, began constructing its headquarters in 1907 or 1908. The building is now the home of Lenco Inc., according to James Goodwin.

At the same time the Goodwin Company's headquarters was being constructed, L.A. Goodwin was also working to have a new home built on a piece of property on East Washington Street then known as the Caldwell property. The Caldwell property came with a barn and an orchard and, for the already bustling uptown area of Jackson, it was a sizable parcel, originally extending westward to Goose Creek.

Although Link had designed homes for prominent St. Louis families -- three of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- little can be found to explain how the prominent St. Louis architect came to design a home for the successful Southeast Missouri businessman. One Goodwin relative believes the two met while Link was working on another Southeast Missouri building project. A newspaper article from 1987 says the two were friends prior to the construction of the White House.

Theodore Link was born in Germany in 1850 and was educated in Paris. He traveled to the United States in 1870 in order to make a career as an architect.

According to a 1986 St. Louis Post-Dispatch magazine article on Link, the architect worked for various railroads on the east coast before moving to St. Louis to work as a draftsman for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. In 1876, Link was among a slate of draftsmen called upon to help design St. Louis' Forest Park and was later named superintendent of parks for the city of St. Louis.

Link moved to Pittsburgh in the late 1870s and ran two German language newspapers there, according to the article. He returned to St. Louis in the mid-1880s, opened his own architecture firm, and embarked on the most prolific period of his career as an architect. All told, Link designed more than 100 buildings in St. Louis alone.

Among the St. Louis buildings Link designed were the School of Medicine Building, which remains in use at Washington University; Barnes Hospital, which has been altered considerably since it was constructed; the huge St. John's United Methodist Church on Kingshighway and a number of office buildings and private residences. His design for Union Station was accepted in 1891. Link is also responsible for the design of the still-standing Union Station in Little Rock, Ark.

However the collaboration between Link and Goodwin came about, it did occur and like Link's Union Station in St. Louis, the White House has weathered the passage of time and seen a great many changes in the surrounding city. Although it stands as a reminder of the past, the home continues to play a very relevant role in the present.

Much of the credit for the White House's newfound life can be attributed to Norman and Violet Colyott, who now make 802 E. Washington their home.

The Colyotts purchased the home in 1982, ending 20 years of longing on the part of Violet Colyott.

"I wanted it for 20 years but I couldn't get Norman to buy it. I finally tricked him into it," Mrs. Colyott said, laughing. "The price was right, there was a lot of room and it was on 3 1/2 acres in town."

The home the Colyotts purchased 13 years ago was a far cry from the one L.A. Goodwin moved into in 1908 and certainly a different sight than the picture the White House presents today.

"It was falling down and I wanted to restore it," said Mrs. Colyott.

What the Colyotts found in 1983 was a structure whose ceilings were falling in and whose extensive woodwork -- floors, stairways and trim -- were blighted with a blackened coat of ancient shellac.

"It was in disarray," Mrs. Colyott recalls, "but it was essentially a good, strong house, structurally."

Norman and Violet Colyott along with their two sons worked almost around the clock in order to put the White House back in order.

"We had to put in a new ceiling and strip all of the woodwork," Mrs. Colyott explained. "My son spent about a month sanding the floors.

"Kevin (the Colyott's son) and I were up around the clock and if a workman didn't show up on time, I was on the telephone."

Hard work paid off. The family was able to move in after six weeks. Over the years, Norman and Violet have continued to restore and redecorate various rooms.

Violet Colyott denies having a fondness for a particular room.

"It depends on my mood," she replied when asked about a favored spot in the house. "If I get tired of one, I go to another."

The Colyotts operate their home as a bed and breakfast, although Violet said business is light except at times when such events as Riverfest are taking place and hotels in Cape Girardeau are full.

Visitors to the home tend to be most surprised by the White House's sheer size, which cannot be truly appreciated until one is inside among the heavy archways, wide stairway and high ceilings.

"People love the house because most of them aren't used to this big of a house," said Mrs. Colyott.