"Homes with History" Program and Book-Signing with Jim Kreuz and John Lehnen

About the book, Homes With History: A third collaboration between Jim Kreuz and John Lehnen, "Homes With History" is a photo-history book detailing 200 iconic Fort Smith homes. Their program will showcase the homes and their history. The authors will be available for a Q&A and books will be available for purchase. Homes With History is presented by neighborhood (12) and contains lots of vintage and interior shots. The history was extracted from old newspaper articles that our library has on-line, and John Lehnen’s learned knowledge. Also included are seven homes and one business designed by famed Frank Lloyd Wright student, E. Fay Jones. 

Other books created by the colloboration of Jim Kreuz, John Lehnen and the late Wayne Bledsoe are: Treasures of Fort Smith, by Wayne Bledsoe and Jim Kreuz, John Lehnen, editor, published November 2019 and Stained Glass, Chalk Boards and Cash Registers of Fort Smith, published November 2021, by Wayne Bledsoe, Jim Kreuz and John Lehnen, editor.

About the authors:

 John Lehnen (left), a fifth generation Fort Smithian, became interested in houses and buildings at an early age. In primary school, one of his favorite books was Reflections of Fort Smith, which he read through so many times the pages started falling out. While earning a BA at the University of Tulsa, he came to know the stories of some of the great houses and buildings of that city, and while earning an MBA at the University of Arkansas, he became acquainted with the interesting vernacular architecture in Washington County. After finishing school, he lived in San Francisco, California, for fifteen years, a city that once had 48,000 Victorian residences, where he worked as a college instructor and program director. He returned to Fort Smith in 2012 and enjoys spending time with his family which includes Dr. Luis Murillo and Charley (pictured above).

 Jim Kreuz is a chemical engineer who retired to Fort Smith with his chemical engineer wife, Kelle, in 2017. They spent almost forty years in the Houston area working for BASF Corp, while dreaming of owning an old home in NW Arkansas.

FSMH members are free.