| City/Town: • Oklahoma City |
| Location Class: • Residential |
| Built: • 1938 | Abandoned: • 1990's |
| Status: • Abandoned |
| Photojournalist: • AbandonedOK Team |
Owned by the Edwards family, Preachers Wall is one of the several homes in the Red Ridge valley. Preachers Wall was the home of Archibald Edwards and his wife Sarah. Judging by some of the material we found, our best guess is that the Edwards’ left the home in 1994. Among the materials is an entire vacation log (not pictured). The Edwards’ were very organized and vacation time was no different. Archibald Edwards researched every potential vacation destination and typed up a brief description of each place. In another file folder, each state has it’s own folder, with plenty of fascinating pamphlets and maps. Below are some of the materials we found.
Gallery Below of Preachers Wall Mansion
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The house looks pretty good. Why did the Edwards family abandon it? Such a beautiful place can be restored.
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Where is this property located? Looks like a beautiful to restore
I think, I must of been reincarnated from this dejv ue. This is, if not mistaken .
My home, built for me by my husband some one else’s life ago.. tell me. Did you ever find hidden in walls
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My favorite one is the portrait that looks like a skull at first glance. Does anyone know the artist behind it?
If you're still interested, the name of the portrait is "All is Vanity" by Charles Allan Gilbert. A very neat work of art.
I hope somebody saves this magnificent home!!!
Josephine and Mary,
I have some of your brother's correspondence w/your parents from his time in the war that you may be interested in getting back…Long story how I obtained it, but I would be happy to send it to you if you are interested. My e-mail address is greeneyedbosoxlover@yahoo.com
destroyed*
Archibald Edwards has audio reels available @ OHS. That is how I know where the name "Preacher's Wall" comes from. The African American man who quarried the rock for the 1st home built on what was known then as "Edwards Estate" is where the name originated from. Apparently he was a preacher…He found himself in hot water shortly after he finished his work on the house bc he was caught concealing an Army issued gun in a false wall in his home. He never turned it back into the government after his military service. Hence the name "Preacher's Wall". On… Read more »
=I appreciate Lindsay's comments. =My father told me that the man who built the wall kept the pistol out of fear of someone he was certain was following him. =Actually the rock for the house was quarried from the still extant pit at the foot of the front lawn. The pit was ringed with informally stacked red rocks and at one end a fish pond about ten feet in length was constructed. It had a cement bottom and still more of the red rocks formed a border. A stand of bamboo grew at one edge. =We used to "fish" for… Read more »
[continuation of previous reply] =I believe that Preachers was built by the architect of the club house for Twin Hills Country Club, near the zoo. The design was my father's; he was inspired by the small, red stone houses out near where Frontier City was later built. He and my mother rode horses in that area during their courtship. =My thanks to those who have written here that they would like to see the house saved. Seeing the images posted on this site brings me to tears. My two most precious memories of growing up there were riding horseback with… Read more »
I believe that Dripping Rock is the rock ledge that projected out over Deep Fork Creek. For many years there sat atop it, or near it, the exposed root system of a long dead tree – perhaps a cottonwood. Most of the trunk had been removed. We called it the octopus tree, because there was just enough of the trunk left to give the impression of an octopus head and the roots of course resembled the tentacles. The gray color of the barkless surface added even further to the effect. When I returned at Christmas I often would walk to… Read more »
What is this houses address? I would love to see it!! I am a member but I can't find it on the interactive map:(
Preachers Wall was not abandoned in the 1990s. My Father died there on March 21, 1998 and my mother continued to live there until her death on February 9, 2002. The house was closed by the trustees of my mother's estate after her funeral some three weeks after her death there. The trustees subsequently placed the contents of the house in storage, and the heirs were not allowed to enter the premises until about two years later. At that time the trustees returned the contents to the house and distributed most of them to the heirs. We again were not… Read more »
Ma'am, this home is so beautiful. I can't imagine the pain you are in from seeing the current condition. I can only say that my heart goes out to you and I think it would be fabulous if this gorgeous home was restored to its former glory! The built ins in the white bedroom with the window seat are fabulous!!!
My parents built this house. I grew up in it. I wanted to buy it from my parents' estate after they died. My siblings chose to sell it to someone with more money than I could offer. The buyer is the one who abandoned it, not my family. As for the skulls of animals mounted on the wall in the barn, I collected those as a teenager.
Incidentally, the name of the house is PREACHER'S WALL.
Just now c hecking this out too–I was going to send a name correction when I saw your post, Mary.
Wasn't so long ago that I remember being asked if I would like some summer sqaush and was told to take all I wanted from the chicken yard vegetable garden. x
Thank you ladies. I have fixed the error. Can you shed any light on why the home is named Preachers Wall?
=Preachers Wall was built earlier than 1938, the date given here. And it was built BEFORE Red Ridge, given a mid 1930s date on another AbandonedOK web site. Perhaps the dates were reversed by mistake?
=My mother told me once that when the western wing was being added to Preachers Wall, she looked at the scaffolding one day and saw my elder brother Hilary, then about three, gamboling upon it, two stories above the ground. She was frantic with fear at the sight of him. [He did not fall. He is alive and well and living in Paris today.]
The first house built on the estate was the one constructed by the Foster family, which homesteaded the land in the days of the Oklahoma land runs. The remains of their storm cellar stood in one section of the place for years.
Hi Mary, I am in the midst of updating these articles to include all factual and more in depth information now that we have access to better resources. I would love to be able to email you and speak with you about the property and its history. It sounds like you have some amazing stories to tell. I am also interested in what the names of the other two houses on the property are? I love that each had their own name! Please email us at board@abandonedatlas.com
Mary, I am just now seeing all of this, and it makes me so sad. I was friends with your father through St. Paul's, wrote the article about him and his daffodils that first appeared in The Oklahoman, but he later told me appeared in Europe where it was seen by family, so he joked that I made him famous. Anyway, I live in an old rock house east of Preacher's Wall, and your dad told me some about the man who built it. I'd like to find out more. I don't think the story above totally matches up. Seems… Read more »
Hello! I love old building and I would love to hear the stories of you growing up here and possibly go see it sometime! Please text me at (918)8453117
Interesting, the stuff people leave behind. Books, pictures… The one framed picture, the optical illusion lady at the dressing table or skull image, is a copy of an illustration called 'All is Vanity' by Charles Allan Gilbert.
This was the house my parents built. I grew up there. I wanted to buy it after my mother died so that I could live there. My siblings chose to sell it to someone else who had more money. It is that buyer who has abandoned this house. The skulls in the barn were collected by me as a teenager.
Absolutely incredible. A great example of early Oklahoma architecture. Love this!
Great house! Would be a great place to remodel