Edwards Place

700 N. Fourth Street
1833; 1857

Photo courtesy of the Springfield Art Association

Oral tradition states that Edwards Place was built in 1833 as a six-room, story-and-a-half Greek Revival dwelling. The artist’s recreation by William Cook at right is the best idea of what the house may have looked like at the time, based on examination of the floor plans and the structure of the house.

In 1857, the firm of Sutton & Brother was contracted to remodel and enlarge the house into the Italianate mansion seen at left. The addition more than doubled the house's size with an addition of a new kitchen to the northwest and a set of double parlors to the east. The renovation also converted the original summer kitchen into family space and connected it to the double parlors.