Julia Griffith House, 1305-1307 South Fountain Avenue, Springfield

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS OHIO,12-SPRIF,19-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This house contributes to the architectural character of the South Fountain Avenue Historic District by virtue of its Colonial Revival styling and its relatively unaltered, but deteriorated, condition. It is notable for its unusually large front attic gable and its spacious front porch, which wraps around both sides of the house. Description: The Julia Griffith House is a cross-shaped building that is part of a cluster of similarly styled houses within the historic district. It rises from a low stone foundation and is of frame construction, with a shiplap-sided exterior. The house has two full stories plus a spacious attic, formed by its main truncated hip roof, with a broad front gabled wing, containing a cluster of now-destroyed attic windows.

Side gables have pairs of smaller attic windows. The rear wing is lower in height than the front section, but still has two floors, covered by a gabled roof that creates kneewalls at the second floor. The front porch rests on a newer concrete block foundation with a poured slab floor. Simple wood columns support its low-pitched hipped roof. It has two entrances at either side. There is a shed-roofed full-width rear porch. The house has a center chimney in the front section, plus two symmetrical side chimneys and a rear chimney at the end of the rear wing, in its center. History: In a permit was taken out to connect this house to the city water system, in the name of Julia Griffith, listed as the owner. The city directory does not list her as residing at this address, however.

The house was probably completed that year or the following year, The same year, R. D. and Joseph C. Griffith operated Griffith & Griffith, Real Estate and Loan Agents, Houses, Rents & Loans Collections. Perhaps they built this house as a speculative venture. It dates from a period when S. Fountain had lost its status as the city's premiere residential street. It may have been built originally as a double residence, although its design seems more like a single-family house. By it was a two-family residence, with Arthur and Eva Davis in one half and Leman and Maggie Bradford in the other. Bradford worked as a florist and Davis worked as a foreman. Both apparently occupied their units until Each has had a series of occupants over the years.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS OHIO,12-SPRIF,19-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

and later Springfield city directories, Ohio Historic Inventory form, The building stands within the South Fountain Avenue Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Copies of the National Register nomination are at the Springfield Department of Planning and Development and the Ohio Historic Preservation Office.