Omaha Exploration

The Cornish Mansion at 10th and William Streets is one of Omaha’s most recognizable residences. Built by Colonel Joel Cornish in 1886 when he was nearly 60 years old. Born in New York in 1828, he worked as a teacher and principal before finishing law school and starting one of southwest Iowa’s largest and most lucrative law firms in Sidney, Iowa.

Trouble with his eyesight caused Colonel Cornish to abandon his law practice and get into banking. He was the first banker in Fremont County and established the First National Bank of Hamburg in 1877. Only after his son Edward had moved to Omaha did his father follow suit. Once here Joel joined the National Bank of Commerce and went on to become its president.

He found a prime parcel of land in Forest Hills which had the distinction of not only being Omaha’s first neighborhood but also its first gold coast – an area where professionals and wealthy business owners built large homes and mansions away from the noise, mud and pollution in the business district downtown. He hired Council Bluffs architect Styles Ezra (S.E.) Maxon to design what would become one of 28 mansions in the area.

Located at 1404 S 10th Street, work on the 15-room, three-and-a-half story mansion started in 1886. Designed in the French Second Empire-style, the residence reflected the colonel’s east coast roots where the style is more common. The exterior of the red brick structure stood out from its peers due to its slated mansard roof with round topped dormer windows and elaborate moldings beneath the roofs eaves. Flanking each side of the front porch are two towers with a central cupola while the porch on the south side featured Eastlake style woodwork. 

Inside the 13,838 sq ft residence were 13-foot high ceilings, four fireplaces, parquet wood floors, a grand staircase leading to the second floor where each family member had their own private sitting porch adjacent to their bedroom. The third floor featured a ballroom that hosted scores of notable families including that of Henry Fonda. 

After Virginia passed away in 1903 followed by Colonel Cornish in 1908, he divided his estate equally among his four children: Ada, Anna, Albert and Edward. The mansion was left to Edward who saw his inheritance reduced to make up for it. By this time, Edward was working as a lawyer for Carter White Lead Company until Levi Carter, its founder, passed away at which point he was elected as its president. Afterwards Edward relocated to Chicago where its headquarters were located. 

With none of the family residing in the Cornish Mansion on a permanent basis, Edward opted to convert it into luxury apartments. He added an annex on the northwest side of the house and established a separate entrance for each unit. The units each had four or five bedrooms with a private bath and porch as well as access to a barn for automobiles. An advertisement from 1916 showed the units being rented for $30 and $45 per month. 

After Edward passed away in 1938, he left the apartments to the children of his brother Albert, a Nebraska Supreme Court Justice residing in Lincoln. His niece, Virginia Cornish Fischer, opted to sell it in 1956 – 70 years after their grandfather arrived in Omaha and built it for his family. The building would find itself on the market again two years later when Grace College of the Bible purchased it. With its campus nearby, they rented it to married students and staff. It has been suggested that the purchase of the building by the college may have ultimately saved it from the wrecking ball. 

The school sold the building in 1982 using the funds to make updates to its campus. Afterwards Arnie Breslow, the president of the Old Market South Neighborhood Association bought it and started a painstaking restoration of the building along with his partner Gina Basile. They even restored the original colors of the roof after making the discovery while peeling away layers of old paint. While a fire in 2021 caused more than a half million dollars in damage – most of which occurred in the third and fourth floors – the couple renovated the building once again and reopened it to tenants in 2023. 

February 2025 OE photos of the main and south porches on the Cornish Apartments.

While there have been changes to the exterior over the years including the removal of the wrought iron crown along the roof and the addition of the annex, the exterior largely resembles the mansion that Colonel Cornish built nearly 140 years ago. The interior despite being subdivided retained many of its original materials and details. In many cases, the renovations repurposed original materials and ornamentation.

The damaged caused by the fire in 2021. Photos courtesy of Old Omaha Real Estate.

Referred to as a “Building for the Ages” by a book on the Omaha’s architectural landmark, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and designated an Omaha Local Landmark in 2017. Today the Cornish Apartments is just one of five remaining mansions in Forest Hill. It is perhaps the best example of French Second Empire architecture in Omaha.

Photos from the real estate listing on Zillow after the fire and renovation.

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