History Mystery Homes #8

Number "11" is the next home that needs identification in Garden City, and can be located anywhere in town.

This beautiful home has an unusual foundation of brick and wood that might make it easier to find.

"Hoest 33" has been identified as 117 Brompton Road, and is next door to "Hoest 35, which is 121 Brompton Road. The current homeowner recognized her home in the article and was happy to provide some information.

The homeowner saved a note given to her by her realtor in the 1970s when she and her husband bought the house. It read: "In 1936 Lynn B. Hunt sold the house to Edward B. Graves. Evidently Mr. Hunt was the original owner and had the house custom-built...Here's the exciting part..." the current owner said, "Lynn B. Hunt...was an acclaimed wildlife illustrator and did the covers of many popular magazines: Field and Stream, Saturday Evening Post, Better Homes and Gardens...He was a great nature-lover, as our whole family is: birders, anglers, hikers... It would be as if his spirit has lived on all the way through to our children...This just keeps getting better and better. Amazing. We also have a 1973 letter from Fred J. Davis, Superintendent of the Building Department, in which he wrote that our house 'was erected in and about 1910 prior to the incorporation of the Village and there are no plans on file at this office.'"

Originally from Albion, Michigan, Lynn B. Hunt illustrated 50 books during his career, many nature-oriented. He also painted the Migratory Waterfowl Stamp in 1939 and 10 National Wildlife Federations stamps. He was also a hunter.

Hunt flew in high circles. He was friends with Roy Chapman Andrews, the inspiration for the Indiana Jones movies. In 1954 the adventurer said of his friend, Hunt, "In my opinion, Lynn Bogue Hunt is one of the world's foremost bird painters. He is not only an artist but a sportsman as well. His paintings have a beauty and vitality that comes from first hand study in the field."

Hunt was also friends with author Ernest Hemmingway, who sent him a photo of himself in Africa with a recently shot lion and wrote on the photo, "To Lynn Bogue Hunt, with very best wishes from his friend, Ernest Hemmingway."

After some investigating, it has been confirmed that Lynn Bogue Hunt (1878- 1960) lived in Garden City for a time. The exact address hasn't been confirmed as 117 Brompton yet by Kevin C. Shelly, the author of Lynn Bogue Hunt: A Sporting Life, but 117 is most likely the correct address for the same Hunt.

Then 117 Brompton was sold. "In 1948 Mrs. Graves sold the house to Madeline M. Banks. In 1965 Mrs. Banks sold to Charles W. Kirsty," the current owner continued. The author remembers that Charles Kirsty was a math teacher at Garden City High School in the 1960s. Then the Kirsty family sold the house to the current owner in 1972.

After the current homeowner moved in, she and her husband "enlarged the kitchen and family room in 1981, adding a fourth fireplace to the house. The house has three large bedrooms, two of which have fireplaces."

The owners of 117 Brompton Road are very interested in finding out more about their home, so if readers know any additional information, they can contact Suzie Alvey at 326.1720 or suziealvey@gmail.com.

Also, if you recognize any of the homes that have been featured or if anyone has any old books, photos or papers relating to anything in Garden City, please call Alvey. She can scan or photograph the items, while you keep the original or you can donate it. This will be extremely helpful to the archives at the Garden City Public Library and the Garden City Historical Society.

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