Published December 29, 2025 | Updated June 6, 2026

Overlooking Hanscom Park, this Dutch Colonial home with Arts & Crafts influences in the Field Club Historic District was one of six houses built in the area of Center Street and 32nd Avenue by the Douglas Security Company in 1909.

Located at 1742 S. 32nd Avenue, the 2½-story house features a brick-and-stucco exterior and was designed by architect F. A. Henninger. Born in 1865, Henninger was one of the city’s best architects. After attending the Chicago Art Institute, he moved to Lincoln and then to Omaha by 1895. His work included the Elmwood Park Pavilion, Jewell Building, Strehlow Terrace, and the Securities Building.

The Megeath family were among the first pioneers to settle in Omaha. It started with James G. Megeath. Born in Virginia in 1824, James was returning home following the California Gold Rush when he passed through Omaha. Convinced of its growth potential, he settled in the fledgling town in 1854 and amassed a fortune after developing portable warehouses used by the Union Pacific Railroad as it laid tracks west from Omaha and obtained significant real estate interests. He donated a portion of the land for the city’s oldest park, Hanscom Park, at 32nd and Woolworth Avenues. The park, however, was named after Andrew J. Hanscom, who contributed a larger portion of the land.

While James passed away in 1906 in Salt Lake City, his son George was born in Virginia in 1857 but made Omaha his home. He founded the Douglas Security Company in 1907 while serving as president of the Sheridan Coal Company. Prior to the turn of the century, the Megeath family built a home on Marietta Place at 2137 S. 33rd Street. By 1923, he donated the house to the Masonic Home for Boys (present-day Omaha Home for Boys), which had run out of room. In honor of his father, it was named the James G. Megeath Masonic Home for Children. Considered one of the city’s early showplaces, it sat on eight lots and had a swimming pool, fountain, gardens, and ample room for the kids. George passed away in 1931. The Megeath house was demolished in 1945 to make way for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, and the Omaha Home for Boys relocated northwest to 52nd and Ames Avenue, where they remain to this day.

The third generation of the Megeath family in Omaha, Windsor F. Megeath was the first to be born here, in 1891. Like his father George, he served as president of the Sheridan Coal Company. Windsor was the original occupant of the home at 1742 S. 32nd Avenue, where he resided from 1910 until 1921. The front façade, possibly inspired by Amsterdam canal houses, features a stepped gable, a symmetrical upper façade with paired windows, and a prominent central chimney.

Spanning 2,890 square feet, the interior of the 2½-story home was finished in mahogany and featured oak floors. While not the showplace of his childhood, the first floor of Windsor’s residence included a sunroom, while the second floor had four corner bedrooms, a sleeping porch, and a bathroom. The third floor contained two maid’s rooms and an additional bathroom. The basement included a laundry room, fruit room, and furnace room. Windsor added a two-car garage in 1915.

Windsor moved out long before he passed away in 1962. Afterward, the house saw multiple occupants over the next three decades and was eventually divided into a two-family home by 1960, possibly earlier. Residents included Lila Abbott, Robert C. Fuller, Alberta Baily Ziegler, James Maxy, and Joe Socha, who died in 1956 after falling down the basement stairs.

Conrad and Barbara Lawrence later moved into the home. Although Conrad passed away at just 44 years old in 1977, Barbara continued raising their 11 children, whose ages ranged from two to 20. She sold the property in 1992 to Richard C. Davis for $79,000. It later sold to Philip and Joan Hawkins in 2011 for $139,000 and to Michael B. Engel in 2016 for $137,000. The current owners purchased the home in 2016 and have it listed for sale at $595,000.

Windsor’s former six-bedroom, four-bathroom home has been fully restored while preserving many of its key historic features, including original woodwork, hardwood floors, and fireplaces. It also includes a multi-level basement and a flexible two-bedroom space on the second floor that can be used as an in-law suite with both interior and exterior access.

Starting with the founding of the city, the Megeath family donated land for its oldest park and donated their impressive home to the Omaha Home for Boys. While that house no longer stands, Windsor’s house along 32nd Avenue across from that park still stands.

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• 1742 S 32nd Ave, Omaha, NE 68105 | Zillow
• James Gabriel Megeath (1824-1906) – Find a Grave Memorial
• George Windsor Megeath (1857-1931) – Find a Grave Memorial
• Windsor Freeman Megeath (1891-1962) – Find a Grave Memorial
• F. A. Henninger – Wikipedia