The downstairs of the house dates from the 1830s beginning as a Federal style cottage. Johnny and Nannie Sites bought the house in 1866 and by the mid-1870s were remodeling it. They literally raised the roof and added two bedrooms upstairs and the more elaborate front porch. When finished the Federal style cottage had become a Victorian home.
Johnny and Nannie Sites had only one son who died at age ten, thus there were no direct descendants. When both Johnny and Nannie died shortly after the turn of the century, their belongings were sold and no records have been found to document their home furnishings. Therefore, in the restoration of the home, the committee focused on furnishing the house with the kinds of items that would have been available in Arrow Rock and would fit a more country-style Victorian home. We think they have accomplished their goal for many people have told us the house looks like the Sites have just stepped out for a moment and might return at any time.
Successful second restorations of both the Sites Gun Shop and House in 1991 earned the Friends of Arrow Rock the Albert B. Corey Award, the highest national award given a local historical organization by the American Association for State and Local History.
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