Everyone Should Visit These 30 Arkansas Homes For Their Incredible Pasts
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Tiffany
Author
There’s a little bit of history saved in every county of the Natural State. The antique architecture that has been preserved in Arkansas is worth a visit, if not for a full photo shoot, then at least for a slow drive or walk past on your way to your next destination. Check out these examples of historic and beautiful Arkansas architecture.
Built ca. 1859 in the Greek Revival style, the plantation boomed as cotton prices increased until the end of the Civil War.
In 1918-20 Henderson significantly modified the house, adding the boxy two-story Craftsman-style porch. The house is now on the campus of Henderson State University.
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The house was specifically deisgned by Quigley to accommodate a two-story space for tropical plants. Over the years Elise Quigley's gardens expanded to take over much of the property. In 1950 the family began charging admission to tour the home, a practice that continues today.
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Now housing the Bradley County Historical Museum, the construction date of this structure is uncertain but local tradition places its start in 1860, and its completion after the American Civil War.
Characteristics of the style include jigsaw-cut bracketing, spindled balustrades, and molded panels under the windows. At the time of its construction in 1890, it was considered one of Bentonville's grandest houses.
Its iron balconies were salvaged from the old Benton County Courthouse when it was demolished. The house was built in 1875 by James Toliver Craig, and owned by members of the Bryan family for seven decades.
The house is distinctive for its use of brick on both the interior and exterior walls. The exterior features include seven porches, a widow's walk, and carved brackets in deeply overhanging eaves.
The house has a pyramidal roof and a wraparound porch with Classical Revival detailing. A large gable projects slightly on the main facade, with a Palladian window at its center. The house includes a sunroom, added in the 1930s by its second owner, J. E. Felker, and also designed by Clark.
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A porch with open veranda above spans most of the width of the main facade, with Queen Anne style turned posts and balusters, and a spindled frieze. The house was built c. 1880 by German masons from St. Louis who were working on a nearby school building.
Above the porch on the southern facade is a clipped-gable projection with three sash windows, while on the west there is a projecting bay section beyond the end of the porch. Built c. 1900, it is a fine local example of transitional Queen Anne/Colonial Revival architecture.
Although the outside has the cleaner lines of the Colonial Revival, the building's interior is richly decorated with Queen Anne-style woodwork. The house was built in 1905 by Thomas Alfrey, a local builder, and was for many years home to a John Brown, a prominent local evangelist.
It has a low octagonal turret at the front left, and a porch, supported by Tuscan columns mounted on a lattice of concrete blocks that form a low balustrade. The house is clad in novelty siding.
Wikipedia
This 1.5 story wood frame house is a rambling, asymmetrical vernacular expression of Queen Anne styling. The principal focus of this styling on the outside is the wraparound porch, which features detailed turned and jigsaw woodwork. Interior decorations, including turned woodwork and stained glass, are also well preserved.
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The large-proportioned house is one of the most prominent buildings in Hamburg. It was designed and built by W. C. Bunn for David Watson, owner of a successful local hardware store.
The pediment is decorated with ribbon-like woodwork, which is repeated on the gable ends of main roof. Each floor on the front facade has a centrally-located door with sidelights, flanked by pairs of windows. The house continues to be home to Watson's descendants.
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The house was the point of contention during the Battle of Fayetteville, which took place at the nearby intersection of College Avenue and Dickson Street.
The house has asymmetrical massing and a busy and varied roofline, with numerous projections, gables, and porches, all characteristic of the Queen Anne and Eastlake styles. The builder, John Edmiston, was a prominent local businessman and banker.
A small round window is located in the gable end of the main facade. The east elevation, which faces the street, has two segmented-arch windows on each level. The house was built in 1866 by Columbus Jackson, whose family lineage is said to include President Andrew Jackson.
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The mill was built c. 1865-67 and the house in 1882, by Jacob Q. Johnson, the town's namesake. The mill building, which operated well into the 20th century, has been converted into a hotel.
Houses of this type are typically found on narrow lots in densely-built urban areas and have two units; this one is set on a larger lot similar to others in the neighborhood and has a single large unit. Walter Beauchamp, the builder, was a conductor on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
In the 1920s the house was divided into apartments, and some elements of its interior decoration were lost. The building was acquired by the Drew County Historical Society, which now uses the house and grounds as a museum facility.
The house is is Foursquare in plan, with a hip roof with large gable dormers projecting. A porch wraps around two sides, featuring elaborate spindled balusters and Ionic columns.
The house has two rooms on each floor, and a two-story temple portico extending across its front. This portico is supported by two sets of four columns, one set for each level of the porch. The house was given its name not long after its construction, due to the large number of frogs in the area.
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The interior also has well-preserved woodwork, hardware and other decoration. The house was built by Lewis Bryan as a summer house, and is notable beyond its architecture as the local headquarters for Bryan's cousin William Jennings Bryan during his runs for President of the United States.
The front porch has a delicate spindle-work frieze, and is supported by turned columns. Different types of cut shingles give variety to the wall surfaces.
Dr. Dewell Gann, Sr., and his family lived in the house; Gann, Sr., was a prominent local surgeon, while his son, Dewell Gann, Jr., served as chief of staff of St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock.
The house was owned by his grandparents, Edith Grisham and James Eldridge Cassidy, and they cared for him when his mother, Virginia, was away working as an anesthetist in New Orleans.
Detailing includes vergeboard in gable ends, wall sections with decorative cut shingles, and corbelled chimney tops. It is an outstanding example of the architectural style in the city.
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The house is now the home of Arkansas State University's Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center. The mission statement of the center is to "contribute to the regional, national and global understanding of the 1920s and 1930s eras by focusing on the internationally connected Pfeiffer family, of Piggott, Arkansas, and their son-in-law Ernest Hemingway."
The building continues to serve as a museum with exhibits related to Arkansas history and culture. Permanent collections include Civil War battle flags, the inaugural gowns of governors' wives, Arkansas art pottery, and African-American quilts. Special exhibits are staged periodically as well.
Even if you’ve lived in these Arkansas all your life you may not have known the history behind the homes and buildings around you! Travel around the Natural State and see how many historic homes you can find!
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