Ed Gibson, cattle baron and founder of Packers National Bank built the Georgian mansion on seven acres of land north of Dodge St for his wife Julia in 1907. Ed was said to have gone broke constructing the house. By 1912 he was spending most of his time on his ranch in Wyoming. Due to that fact and financial constraints, Ed sold the house at 6300 Dodge Street to wealthy lawyer John Kenndy in 1912. Kennedy, it seems, grew tired of the harsh Nebraska winters and relocated to California by 1925.
Its new owner, Rufus E. Lee, was the president of Omaha City Bank. One of the things that appealed to Rufus was the fact that the original owner of the house (Ed Gibson) ran sheep on the Flynn ranch in Wyoming which belonged to the Lee family. Rufus began a major renovation of the house they called “Binnie Brae”. He added sunrooms on the east and west ends of the house along with sleeping purchases on the second floor. He added ornate wood paneling to the dining room. Outside he added tiers of reflecting pools towards the east end of the property along 62nd St. He built a greenhouse and a formal rose garden.
By 1937 Rufus and his wife passed away and it was sold to the Archdiocese of Omaha. Shortly afterwards, UNO would begin building its campus to the south. They reconstructed the north wing which now included a large library in addition to a rare collection of medieval monastic books, a chapel (with vaulted ceiling using the Coats of Arms of the Omaha Bishops hand painted by a German artist) and a dormitory on the top floor. The Archbishop was responsible for many of the European and religious details added to the home including the hand painted three panel atrium door on the second floor. The elevator was added in 1967 after its current Archbishop resident had his leg amputated.
By the time the house was sold in 1971, its surrounding property only consisted of four acres. A portion of the land on the east side of the house was used for the chancery building. Despite the house and property sitting across from UNO, the university did not have any interest in purchasing it. They didn’t want their campus to cross Dodge St preferring instead to expand south.
Dr. James D. Quinn purchased the house as a residence for his family. In 1973 they made a room on the third floor so that it could be used for ballet rehearsals as his wife, Elizabeth, was a member of the Omaha Ballet Society. In 1984 it was selected as the Designers’ Showhouse.
The 11,000 sq ft house which was listed for sale last year and remains on the market includes a library with white marble fireplace, wood paneled dining room with black marble fireplace, huge center staircase, living room with fireplace and glass paned built-ins, bright breakfast room, solarium, green house, chapel, carriage house with rooftop deck.
Also, the Durham Museum Photo Archives have nearly 100 photos of the house if you search for Rufus Lee. I only included a few in this post.
I’d love to hear what you have to say so please feel free to comment. Until next time, keep exploring!
Omaha Exploration 
Leave a comment