A quick walk around the exterior of the Brenton House leaves the casual observer awe struck by the sheer size and beauty of the craftsmanship that went in to building the home.  The fact that it was built mostly by hand in 1878 makes it even more astounding.  Many unique features stick out, from the ornate woodwork to the colossal downspouts.  With all of these intricacies, there is one portion of the house that seems to draw more questions than any other.

On the west side of the home are two large bricked in windows.  Both Kacey and I questioned it during our initial showing prior to purchasing the home.  It looks slightly out of place but the bricks themselves seem to match the time period.  They have aged at the same rate as the surrounding exterior.  So, why would these windows be bricked in?

We speculated for the last few months.  Perhaps they once held statues.  Maybe they were there simply to round out the exterior and make it atheistically pleasing.  All of these ideas worked but didn’t provide the story or insights I was looking for, they still seemed out of place.

That all changed during the Labor Day breakfast held at the Legion.  I attended to meet some new Dallas Center residents and because I had been personally invited by Wilma York.  She introduced to me about a dozen people, always following the introduction with “He just brought the Brenton House.”  It was a nice conversation starter and people seemed to light up at the opportunity to share some of the house’s history with the new owner.

As we were wrapping up breakfast one of my new friends turned and said, “So do you know why those windows are bricked in on the west side of the house?”  I immediately ignored everyone else and gave this man my undivided attention.  “No sir, do you?”  He continued, “Well this all a rumor but it makes sense to me.  Back after WWI the Brentons had to foreclose on a bunch of farm land loans.  The story is the previous owners of the land would come and break the windows out of the house.  So, after a couple of incidents, they bricked them in.”

That’s the story I was looking for.  Is it plausible?  Sure.  Does it fit?  Definitely.  Is there proof?  None whatsoever.  But’s that okay.  I like the story and until someone can prove differently it’s the one I’m going to share.