The Lebold Mansion

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this twenty-three room Victorian mansion was built in 1880 by Conrad H. Lebold. The limestone was quarried from nearby Russell County. Conrad Lebold was a local banker, realtor, politician, and Mayor of Abilene for 2 terms. Lebold chose the site of Abilene’s first log cabin to build his 23 room home. The Mansion was completed at a cost of $18,000.00.

Lebold’s financial empire suffered during the depression of the 1880’s and in 1889 he was forced to turn the house over to creditors. George Sterl bought the mansion at a sheriff’s sale for $4,400 and occupied it until 1918.

Hard times soon befell the stately structure, and for the next 53 years it was used as a home for telephone operator girls in the 1920’s, an orphanage for children, and an apartment building.

In 1972 a young couple began restoring it to a private home. They were the 49th owner of the mansion. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. A retired couple acquired the mansion in 1976 and did extensive restoration with the focus on the exterior and surrounding grounds. They opened the home to the public for touring in 1976.

In 2000, the third generation of caretakers began the next phase of the restoration of the mansion. They had moved here from California. As specialists in Victorian restoration they returned the interior back to an 1880’s décor. The mansion was home to one of the finest collections of American Victorian furnishings in the state, until 2009 when they decided to sell the home and all the furnishings. A couple from California purchased the home and is now using it as a private residence.

It is no longer open to the public for tours.