Sharing Space with History
Discovering your home’s history is an invitation to discover what different touches your family will add. Each home has a story, and each family adds new chapters. Marshall University’s First Lady, Jane Kopp, opened her doors to share the tale of the stately white Colonial across 13th Avenue from Huntington’s Ritter Park used by the university’s presidents. University President Stephen Kopp.
“I love the view of the park,” says Jane after corralling the family’s friendly golden retriever, Abby, who greets visitors at the front door. “It’s just beautiful,” she says with a smile. “The home has so much history involved. It was actually built as a replica of Mount Vernon.” However, as the Kopp’s make their own additions, the home is also becoming a part of the legacy of Jane and her husband, Marshall University President Stephen Kopp.
It’s easy to understand her descriptive comparison to another famous president’s home. Beyond the exterior, the two-anda- half story, 16-room residence has been used by fi ve previous university presidents and their families since the West Virginia Board of Regents purchased the house in 1971 for $90,000. Following another $54,000 in restoration, the home was included as part of the National Register of Historic Places in the Ritter Park Historic District, bounded by 13th Avenue between 8th and 12th Streets. History certainly has its place here.
When asked what it’s like to live in such a house, Jane replies, “We had to get used to it. The fi rst time I came into the house was when my husband was interviewing.I thought, ‘Oh, wow!,’ but eventually it just became home to us.” Upon entering the home you immediately admire the strikingly vibrant and rare wallpaper that enwraps the foyer, as Jane shares its history. “It adds so much character to the house.”
Beyond its beauty, Jane discovered the wallpaper is rather unique. During construction of the home between 1922 and 1923, owner Charles Campbell commissioned the large-scale, mural-like scene that provides a viewer the illusion of being in the landscape. Created in Rixheim, France, by the fi rm Zuber & Cie, the panoramic designs of El Dorado like that in the Marshall University President’s home have been featured in Smithsonian exhibits. The water color design is applied by hand in France and completed panels are shipped to customers all over the world. Estimates to purchase a similar El Dorado today reach $25,000, but Campbell, a former Huntington mayor and judge, paid less than $1,000 in 1922. Also notable in the foyer is the soaring grandfather clock, meticulously crafted by J.C. Jennens & Son in London. It was an original furnishing of the house and was donated back by William Campbell, a descendant of Charles Campbell.
The foyer isn’t void of the Kopps’ decorative touch. Their collection of Danish plates, each with a holiday-themed design, are showcased in a prominent hutch. It’s a collection Jane cherishes. “We really need to have some of our things around us to feel that we are in our own home,” she says with a smile.
The foyer divides the home’s large dining room and living room, each decorated with the occasional parrot, a theme established by a mural placed over the fi replace in the dining room. The over-the-mantel panel by Louis Chappell cost $200 in 1923, and features a parrot peaking out from the lower right corner. Window draperies and the chair covers in the dining room also present the colorful birds. The parrots are a mysterious design element which Kopp has yet to discover the meaning of.
The living room boasts colorful yellow upholstered chairs, a fabulous grand piano and book cases with parrot statues perched above, adding a whimsical touch to the dark wood paneling. The living room also displays the future of the Kopp family for the many visitors attending university functions conducted in the home. The Kopp grandchildren, 2-yearold Rachel and 6-month-old Ryan are pictured, as well as their mother and father, Liz and Matt Bradley. A picture of the Kopps’ son, Adam, with his wife Amanda on their wedding day adorns another table. Seeming to overlook all visitors is a portrait of Chief Justice John Marshall, painted by Professor E.E. Myers and stationed above the fi replace. Myers based the painting on a portrait of Marshall by Henry Inman, she says.
Although the fi rst fl oor of the 11,710 square-foot house is used primarily for offi cial business, leaving the upper fl oors for family use, the Kopp’s have claimed the library at the rear of the home as their own. The room takes advantage of the abundance of natural light from its many windows, providing a comfortable setting for reading, relaxing and watching television. “This is our area to just kick back and relax a little,” she says. Marshall University is never far away, though. A painting by Marshall University graduate Drew Melton hangs above the sofa.
A glassed-in, half-circular porch on the east end of the house provides a quiet place for the family to dine, entertain or to just enjoy the view of Huntington’s premier park. “During the spring, summer and fall we spend a lot of time out here. It’s a great place to have a quiet dinner with friends or to just enjoy the changing seasons in the park,” she adds.
No doubt as the Kopp family becomes increasingly comfortable in the home, they will leave their own mark. The Kopps’ story will continue to entwine with that of Huntington and Marshall University, and the next chapter of their collective history will be full of what makes a house a home.
