In 1936, young Lawrence Welk and his wife Fern purchased the gray house across the street on the southeast corner. The young musician and bandleader, who had already played such Omaha ballrooms as the nearby Peony Park, thought he’d start a chicken farm here. He lived here for two years, although after six months he gave up chicken farming to return to musicmaking. The members of the local musicians union refused to give him a card, so he could only play one-night stands regionally. He and his wife left in 1938 but still owned the house until 1949.
North Dakota native Welk went on to enormous success in the 1950s and later, with a weekly music broadcast on ABC television and even a #1 pop chart hit in 1961 called “Calcutta.” A savvy businessman, he invested in real estate, publishing and other ventures, and became a very wealthy impresario.
60 years after Lawrence Welk lived in this house, the young WBs (sons in the cache hider family) were growing up a block away and became friends with the twin sons then growing up in the Welk house. The twins were aware that someone famous named “Lawrence Welk” had lived in their house, and once claimed that they had found an accordion in the attic.
These facts (except for the accordion in the attic) are documented here and here. Wunnerful, wunnerful!