House Information
Prominently sited on a corner lot across the street from the St. Joseph Museum, the former residence of Joseph Corby is one of the cities finest remaining Victorian mansions. The house appears to have been built in four stages. The rear wing is an older two story structure of Italianate style that originally had its entrance on Charles street (to the right of the initial photo). The original Italianate walnut staircase and some moldings still survive in this section. A one story addition was later added which we believe housed the servants and the kitchen. An original stone sink almost five feet long is located in the basement of this addition. A larger three story section was built in 1882 when the property was acquired by Joseph Corby and "updated" in the fashionable Second Empire style. Corby was heavily involved in speculative real estate development during St. Joseph's "Golden Age" and was a pioneer in establishing telephone and telegraph lines in the area. He also owned the St. Joseph Gazette from 1873 to 1875. Towards the end of the original Corby occupancy of the house, a conical roof conservatory was added to the south side between the new and old additions. The view of the Missouri River from this room is truly worth the price.
Surmounted by a mansard roof, the house is distinguished by its angled corner bays with brick quoins and arched ground story windows with ornamental brick hoods. Transom windows on the first floor originally contained decorative stained glass, a few of which still survive. Many of the second floor windows contain ornamental "Queen Anne" upper sash with colored glass. A decorative metal cornice with paneled leaf decoration and splayed and fluted pilaster capitals separates the second floor from the attic story where gabled and shallow arched dormers punctuate the roofline.
The interior features 19 rooms on three floors. Interior features still present include period woodwork (mostly painted), parquet floors (hopefully restorable), pocket doors (two out of three sets), two fireplace mantels, and decorative tile work. The house was converted to probably eight apartments in about 1917 and later the total was increased to twelve. There was literally a toilet in every room! Even the basement was an apartment at some point in time. Amazingly, there was little serious changing of rooms, most are laid out as they were originally.