Story #52: August and Anna Julien: A Husband-and-Wife Building Team in Country Club
Not every Country Club builder came out of the construction trades.
Some arrived by way of the automobile business.
During the 1930s, August and Anna Julien became one of the more intriguing husband-and-wife building teams working in the Country Club neighborhood, constructing at least 24 homes between 1932 and 1939. Their names appear repeatedly in building permits across the district, with a pattern that soon became familiar: Anna E. Julien purchased the lots, and August Julien served as the builder and contractor.
Before turning to homebuilding, August Julien was well known in Omaha’s auto industry. In the early 1920s he was president and manager of Julien Chevrolet Company at 1715 Cuming Street, and by 1927 he had become president and manager of the new Julien Hudson-Essex Company at 21st and Cuming Streets. He was part of Omaha’s fast-growing automobile trade at a time when cars symbolized modernity, progress and prosperity.
But sometime after the death of his father, Bartholomew Julien—a longtime Union Pacific foreman and a director of Nebraska Savings & Loan—August and Anna shifted their focus to real estate and home construction. They found opportunity in the still-developing Country Club District, where new houses continued to rise even during the difficult years of the Depression.
Together, the Juliens built homes across the neighborhood, including along Country Club Avenue, North 52nd Street, North 53rd Street, North 54th Street, Parker Street, and Decatur Street. They also built their own home at 2524 North 52nd Street, placing themselves right in the heart of the neighborhood they were helping to shape.
One 1933 newspaper item announced that Anna Julien was building a brick veneer, two-story residence at 2014 North 52nd Street, with A. Julien as contractor—a concise description that perfectly captures how the couple worked as a team. In another 1938 article highlighting a newly completed house at 2211 Country Club Avenue, August Julien was credited as the builder of a “complete small home” designed for comfort, efficiency, and beauty.
Known Julien-built homes in Country Club include:
2205 Country Club Avenue
2207 Country Club Avenue
2014 N. 52nd Street
2412 N. 52nd Street
2416 N. 52nd Street
2504 N. 52nd Street
2516 N. 52nd Street
2524 N. 52nd Street
2530 N. 52nd Street
2534 N. 52nd Street
2011 N. 53rd Street
2026 N. 53rd Street
2511 N. 53rd Street
2527 N. 53rd Street
2537 N. 53rd Street
2719 N. 53rd Street
2036 N. 54th Street
5015 Decatur Street
5012 Parker Street
5019 Parker Street
5020 Parker Street
5112 Parker Street
The Juliens may not have been the biggest builders in Country Club, but they were certainly among its most interesting—proof that the story of the neighborhood was shaped not only by architects and developers, but also by entrepreneurial families willing to reinvent themselves and build something lasting.
Photo Captions:
Ad for Julien Chevrolet Co. as it appeared in the May 30, 1926 edition of the Omaha World Herald.
May 30, 1934 edition of the Omaha Bee News.
1933 photo of 5020 Parker Street. Courtesy NSHS Dewell 82745.
5020 Parker Street courtesy Douglas County Assessor website.
