Rippon-Kinsella House

What is Rippon-Kinsella House?

The house is a hybrid. Its first design was a straightforward Italianate one, and that layer still shows in the brackets under the eaves and in the tall, arched windows topped with rounded hoods. The second layer is Classical: a porch held up by Doric columns and a steep, high-pitched roof.

Springfield had many Italianate houses, and their simple shapes took well to Classical updates when that look came into fashion in the early 1900s. This one is considered among the best-kept examples of such a blend in the city, which is why it joined the National Register in 1992.

History of Rippon-Kinsella House

John Rippon Jr., a local businessman, probably had the house put up in 1871. He sold it in 1891, and after a few more owners it passed in 1899 to Richard Kinsella, known as Dick. Kinsella sold wallpaper and paint, scouted talent for baseball's New York Giants and was a leading figure among Sangamon County Democrats. In 1905 he remodeled the house, adding the columned porch and the taller roof that give it its present look.

Visiting Rippon-Kinsella House: tips

View the house from the public sidewalk and respect that it is private property. A few minutes is enough to spot the Italianate brackets and the later Doric porch side by side, which is the whole point of the visit.

The Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum is about 0.2 mile away, in the building that once held the Museum of Funeral Customs. The John F. Bretz House and Warehouse is about 0.3 mile off.