Dr. Reefy Home

Built 1902; Demolished Nov. 1967

Built by Dr. Philip D. Reefy, a prominent physician and two term mayor. Construction started in 1902, and the family moved in before it was finished, for the work took 5 years. The doctor changed his mind frequently and had things ripped out and rebuilt. Much time was also required for the carved woodwork and paneling and for the numerous built-in alcoves, window-seats and other things. A shell and a cluster of oak leaves are motifs repeated in the woodwork embellishments. Dominant feature of the house is the circular tower rising from the basement to a castle-like battlement topping the third floor. The broad veranda roof, circling the tower, sweeps one third of the way around the building. On the two second-floor porches the Reefy family enjoyed the air on a warm summer evening. After Dr. Philip Reefy died in 1913, his son Dr. Karl Reefy resided here. 

The house was purchased by the library in 1929. It was housed here until the Washington Avenue library was built in 1966. The Methodist Church bought the house and demolished it in 1967 to make way for a new church hall.