Published March 20, 2025 | Updated July 13, 2026

A unique Tudor Revival-style building in Blackstone was built as a model service station that also glamorized automobile travel.

Today this building serves as a branch for Dundee Bank. Sitting on the southwest corner of 38th and Farnam Street, it was originally built for White Rose Service Station in 1930 by the National Refining Company. Its location within an upscale residential area made its design important as it had to “fit in” to the suburban setting of the Blackstone district.

In order to accomplish this goal, the station was built using an architectural style which was popular for homes at the time. Constructed of concrete, tile bricks and a red tile roof, it also featured a quarry tile floor. Its style included small windows, a conical tower and steep, triangular gables. The outward appearance made it more palatable to both its neighbors and to travelers along the Lincoln Highway. The design was intended to serve as a national model for the company’s service stations, according to the 1977 book Omaha City Architecture. The building at 302 S. 38th Street had its original diamond-shaped leaded glass windows on the front of the building replaced in 1946 with plate glass windows. It continued to serve as a gas station under the Skelly brand from 1944 to 1984.

In 1986, Don (Dino) Norlin purchased the property and opened his Italian restaurant, Villa Dino’s. The conversion from gas station to restaurant took a considerable amount of work and included removing the smell of gasoline as well as the addition of an outdoor patio in an area where the gas pumps once sat. Norlin incorporated many of the original fixtures including the quarry stone tile floor. The restaurant closed in 1994.

It remained in use as a restaurant after Tom Foster and Mary McGranaghan opened McFoster’s Natural Kind Café. Their spot aimed to serve the best vegetarian dishes from all major cuisines. In addition to its menu, the restaurant was known for its live music that was often performed on the upper floor. The restaurant was taken over by Chris and Kelly Johnson in 2012. One of the city’s first vegetarian-focused restaurants, it operated for 20 years before closing in late 2014.

In 2015, the building was sold to Security State Bank of Ansley, Nebraska. Led by Keith Herrman of The Architectural Offices (AO), the building was renovated and converted to a second branch of Dundee Bank in Omaha. The bank aimed to restore its original facade and made efforts to retain many of its original historic details and even added garage doors. The interior restoration work on the building received an AIA Nebraska Award of Merit and in 2015 the Restoration Exchange Omaha preservation award for a commercial property.

Dundee Bank is no stranger to historic preservation. In 2006, they turned the former Ernest Buffett grocery store at 5015 Underwood Avenue into their flagship branch in Omaha. Its third branch was opened at 1407 S. 13th Street in the Little Bohemia neighborhood in 2021. The fourth branch was opened in Benson at 6073 Maple Street in 2024.

Today the former White Rose station, with its stunning design, remains a centerpiece of historic architecture in a revived Blackstone District that blends both historic and contemporary structures within the entertainment district.

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• 1977 book Omaha City Architecture by the Junior League of Omaha and Landmarks Inc.
• Dundee Banks on Station – Preserve Omaha
• HD-012-N_Gold-Coast-HD_NR.pdf