Hysham House struggling for funding despite lot sale

 RED OAK — A bad case of the Mondays has been following the Red Oak Monday Club for months as their beloved Hysham House continues to deteriorate, and donors are scarce.

“Businesses and organizations these days are just hounded for money,” Monday Club President Lois Pratt said. “We’re just hoping someone can find it in their heart to help us or maybe a millionaire neighbor will come forward. We’re holding on for now but I don’t know how long that will last.”

The Monday Club has owned the English Tudor home on Reed Street since 1956, and what was once a place of grandeur where the most elite women of society met to discuss art and literature and work to benefit the community, is now in need of more than $70,000 to maintain the building.

Pratt said the leaking roof and cracked stucco are the biggest concern, but the windows are in need of replacement, as well, which would cost an extra $200,000. The home also has water damage inside and needs updates to be handicap accessible.

Despite fundraising efforts that began in June, the club has received practically no donations. They did, however, recently sell an empty lot of land adjacent to the house to a next-door neighbor for $5,000.

Pratt will be meeting with the club’s advisory board later this month to decide whether or not to sell the home because she said she doesn’t want tosee it continue to deteriorate.

 “If we decide to sell, I want to see it go to someone who can not only afford to buy it but afford to redo it and maintain it,” she said. “It would be lovely if it was turned into a bed and breakfast then maybe the Monday Club could still use it for our meetings.”

The Monday Club is the oldest ongoing organization in the city; its bylaws were adopted in 1895. While at one point the club had as many as 200 members, the numbers are dwindling, with only around 20 active members.

“It’s really a sad thing. The bunch is just more and more elderly,” Pratt said. “We have gotten a few new, younger members but that may not be good enough.”

During their tenure in Red Oak, the club has done various things throughout the community including assisting in the installation of clock in the Courthouse tower, purchasing the first sewing machine for the high school and helping establish the current library.

The Hysham House, though, has remained the center of the organization for decades.

The house was built in 1900 for John Hayes, owner of the Red Oak Investment Company. In 1926, it was transformed from a Queen Anne Victorian to an English Tudor for its new owner, T.J. Hysham and his English wife Ada.

Ada was a devout member of the Monday Club and left $15,000 to the club in her will for the purchase of the home.

“This house just means so much to everyone,” Pratt said. “It’s really nerve-wracking. If I’d been a member as long as some of them, I’d be in a real state of depression.”

If interested in pledging money to the Hysham House repairs, contact Pratt at 623-9469. Should they decide to sell the house, all donations will be refunded.