MANSION IS REMINDER OF PROSPEROUS DAYS
By Sally [Bateman] Reiner
In July 1985, I had the pleasure of visiting the Lykens Mansion and its sole inhabitant at the time, Levi Kissinger. Mr. Kissinger told me many interesting facts about the place.
The mansion was built between 1876-1878 by the James Durbin family. Mr. Durbin was a lawyer and he practiced in Harrisburg and the Lykens Valley.
Most of the bricks used in building the mansion were made in Lykens, but some were brought from Harrisburg. [The brick yard in Lykens was at the end of Lawley Road below the Charlie Boohner farm]. The bricks were pulled up the hill by horse and wagon. The exterior of the mansion is two bricks thick.
The stone wall behind the mansion and the foundation of the mansion were made from rocks found on the land there. The land originally consisted of 18 acres, but later six acres were sold. The original boundaries of the property were the Glen Park on the south, cemeteries on the east and north, and the corner of South and Spruce Streets to the west. There was a brick wall along the east, north, and west sides of the mansion, and the road to the mansion went across the present front lawn. There were two fountains in the yard, one in front and one to the west side. The front porch was open underneath and you could see the stone foundation. From the porch on the west side, you can see Liverpool across the Susquehanna River.
The workers who built the mansion worked for $ .5o a day and a hot cooked meal. They worked from 6 a.m. until the dark of night. It cost the Durbin family about $10,000 to build the mansion.
There is a barn in the back. The Durbins kept horses and cows and cultivated a large garden. They also raised hay, oats and wheat anbd had a vineyard of grqapes.
The Durbins hosted many grand parties in the ballroom on the third floor of the mansion.
Mrs. Durbin had the mansion up for sale for $10,000 – which she later dropped to $5,000, and finally she was so glad to get rid of it that she sold it to the Charles Page family in 1911 for $1,900.
Viola Page, a daughter of Charles Page, was born in the mansion in 1913.
She later married Mr. Kissinger and they set up housekeeping on their own, until November of 1932 when they moved back to the mansion to help their parents. After raising her family there, Viola passed away in 1983. Her husband, Levi Kissinger, continued to live there alone until 1984 when he decided the place was too big and too much for him to handle at his age. He held a public sale of the contents in February 1986 and moved to an apartment.
The mansion was purchased in February 1987 by James Buffington Jr., and his wife Brenda Buffington. They immediately began restoration. They and their three children moved into the mansion in December of 1987.
There is not a person who was born and raised in Lykens who has not heard the stories of the Lykens Mansion. It sits there on Berry Mountain overlooking Lykens, reminding everyone of an era of splendor. It represents our glorious past when coal was king.
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A portion of a print by Stutzman of the Durbin Mansion is the featured image. The print is described on Worthpoint. The article by Sally [Bateman] Reiner appeared in the Citizen-Standard, September 28, 1990.
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