Friends of Wheeling Tour - 109 Park View Lane "Breeze-Cote"

Friends of Wheeling toured 109 Park View Lane on December 2, 2023.

Deed records suggest that this home was built around 1892 for Louis A. Rolf and his wife, nee Marie Keim. Both were children of German immigrants. Louis Rolf (1862-1911) was listed in the 1905 edition of Progressive West Virginians as involved in “real estate, fire insurance and money to loan.” He had begun his career as a clerk in a dry goods store, then went into real estate in Minneapolis, MN, before returning to his native Wheeling in 1889 and continuing in real estate. He purchased the property where 109 Park View Lane stands in February 1892 and married Marie Keim on June 2 of the same year. The couple had one daughter, Marie Elizabeth.

Rolf died at age 50 while visiting Atlantic City for his health. He, and later his widow, were both interred in the Rolf-Keim mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery. Widow Marie (1862-1948) and young daughter Marie Elizabeth remained in the home. Marie Elizabeth Rolf (1902-1999) married Louis F. Woods in 1923, and the couple had two children, William Louis Woods and Mary Elizabeth Woods (Hugus). The property was transferred to Marie Rolf in 1947. Louis Woods (1898-1950) was also a real estate agent – with the firm of Rolf, Ferrell, and Woods – and also died at a young age, being just 52 at the time of his death. His widow Marie Rolf Woods later married Edward W. Driehorst (1895-1988) in 1961 and remained in the home until her death in 1999.

Census records provide a glimpse of the household size over the years: 1900 listed Louis, Marie, and one female servant; 1910 listed the couple and one male servant who worked as a hostler. By 1920, after the death of Louis, the household consisted of Marie, her daughter Marie Elizabeth, and her Marie’s mother Mary. In 1930, the household consisted of Marie, her daughter Marie Elizabeth and son-in law Louis Woods, grandson William, and two maids. And the 1940 census listed Marie, her daughter and son-in-law, and both grandchildren. There may have been day servants during many of those time periods, but they aren’t shown in census records.

Robert Michael “Mike” Baker purchased the home in the summer of 1999 and remained there until his death in June 2022. He had been a member of Friends of Wheeling for many years and had served at one time as the group’s president. He had also been a member of the Victorian Wheeling Society, Chairman of Ohio County Library Board, Chairman of the Moundsville Historical Society, Board of Directors Chairman of the Delf Norona Museum, Founder of the Fostoria Glass Museum where he served as president for ten years, former Post office worker and realtor, and member of the Knights of Columbus.

Photos from the tour: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jcsulli...