Victorian Christmas Tour Homes

Newport History

Tour Home Histories and Features

Stained Glass Windows

Newport, founded in 1795 by General James Taylor, Jr., was a trading center at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers. Taylor inherited large tracts of land from his father who received land patent grants for service in the French and Indian War. His circa 1820s mansion sits at the foot of Overton on 3rd Street. Taylor's grandson, Colonel James Taylor, inherited most of General Taylor's land, and through several trustees he subdivided the area through a number of "additions" to the city of Newport.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Newport was a "boom town" and conveniently connected by street car to Cincinnati. Real estate speculation was a significant activity among both wealthy members of the community and craftsman. Lots tended to be developed and sold in clusters, creating a consistency of period style among most blocks of the neighborhood. Architectural fashions changed significantly during the several decades over which the area was developed, leading to significant stylistic variety across the whole neighborhood.

Taylor’s trustees generally sold land starting with Washington Avenue (then known as “East Row”) in the 1870s and moving east, and from the central blocks of the neighborhood outward. The oldest homes on the tour are generally south of Sixth Street; the land nearest the Taylor mansion at Third and Overton (known as "Mansion Hill") was developed last.

The neighborhood experienced some decay during the mid-20th century, but homes have been restored in recent years to their previous historic character. Today, the East Row Historic District is Kentucky’s second largest historic district. The community, which has been called “one of the finest urban historic district areas in Kentucky,” was named by Cincinnati Magazine as one of the 15 great neighborhoods in the area. This Old House magazine in 2012 named it a “Best Old House Neighborhood” in the U.S.

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415 East Eighth Street
St. Mark Lutheran Church
Movement Church

This beautiful ca. 1897 church is a classic example of Victorian Gothic architecture. The main corner entrance lies within a three-story bell tower with lancet windows, decorative buttresses and a slate roof. The church was built in 1897 as St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was decommissioned in 2015 and, after restoration, was recommissioned as Movement Church in 2016.

Movement Church serves as the Tour Headquarters for Ticket pickup and sales. Restrooms are available.

639 Overton Street
Jacob and Louisa Milius House

This ca. 1884 three story Italianate was built for Louisa and Jacob Milius, a Hessian native and “willow ware” (basket) manufacturer and later grocer in Newport. The home was purchased in 1924 by Charles L. Bowers, a corporal in WWI and English teacher, who owned the home with his wife Melba until 1945. 

The large inviting side porch and landscaping were added recently by the current owners.

608 Nelson Place
Hodge House

This Swiss Alpine style home is attributed to architect Lucien Plimpton (Plympton) of Cincinnati. The home was built in 1898 for Judge John Hodge. Hodge was a grandson of the Newport's founding Taylor family on his mother's side and his father was General George Baird Hodge of the Confederate Army. Judge Hodge was first married to Virginia Lovell, daughter of a Covington tobacco manufacturer. His second wife was Grace Weitzel Stewart from Cincinnati, who was the niece of Alexander McDonald of Standard Oil (partner of John D. Rockefeller). Hodge had a turbulent political career and was an activist who opposed gambling in Newport.

The home had been split up into as many as 11 units in its past. The area to the left after entering was a studio apartment with a side door behind the faux fireplace. The original staircase was removed to create more space, however the original handrails were saved and restored to thier rightful place as the home was rennovated. While the spindles are not original, portions of the original spindels were used to recreate the exact replicas and rebuilt the staircase.

The current owners purchased the house in October 2017 and at that time, it had been reduced to 3 units. There was a single 1BR/1B unit at the back of the 2nd floor and a 2BR/2B unit on the 3rd Floor.  The owners removed the second floor unit, turning it into a Master Bedroom / Bathroom / Closet suite and a small 4th Bedroom and extensively renovated the 1st floor to create a new kitchen and a bonus room.

501 East Sixth Street
D.R.P. Dimmick House

This ca. 1883 two and a half story home is unique in the neighborhood with its farmhouse style. Given its date, it is likely originally an Italianate in the main footprint.

The home was built for D.R.P. (David Rattenhaus Porter) Dimmick. Dimmick appears in early city directories as a “U.S. gauger” for the Internal Revenue Service; then pipe inspector for The Cincinnati and Newport Iron & Pipe Company; then superintendent for The Addyston Pipe & Steel Co. (Newport Works). He served three years as a Corporal in Company E in the New Jersey Volunteers during the Civil War.

The home was completely restored by Mansion Hill Properties in to an “urban farmhouse” in 2018. Layers of aluminum siding and Insulbrick were stipped from the exterior, revealing the original wooden clapboard and fish scale shingles that had been covered.

Inside, the pass through fireplaces were uncovered on both the 1st and 2nd floors, as well as covered windows and hidden doorway transoms. The basement access was relocated, and some walls removed to open up the main area. and an small addition was made to add a 2nd Barthroom, a Powder room, and a Kitchen Pantry. Reclaimed histoic cabinets were used throughout the kitchen.

The rennovation resulted in a number of awards for excellence in preservation, and was featured in Cincinnati Magazine.

734 Overton
Schmidt-Wittenberg Building

This ca. 1875 four-bay, two and a half story brick Italianate has an unusual recessed entry on the southeast corner, and features a bracketed cornice, window hoods, and two-story south facing rear ell. For much of its history it served as commercial establishment and residence. The home was built by Prussian immigrants Henry and Margaret Schmidt, and the family operated a tailor shop there until 1885. From then until about 1894, the family’s saloon here was advertised as “Popular East End Saloon, Choice Wines, Liquors, Lager Beer & Cigars, One of the Nicest, Coolest, & Best Kept Resorts in the City.” In 1900, the property was sold to the Schmidts’ son-in-law, Dr. August Helmbold, who leased the building to Fred W. Kaufmann as a residence and pharmacy. The Kaufmanns later purchased the property and in 1918 sold it to pharmacist Frank Wittenberg and wife Marie. The Wittenbergs lived here until about 1960, with the business operating as “Wittenberg’s Prescription Pharmacy” until about 1946 and “Frank Stratman Drugs” through 1960. Its last commercial incarnation was as “Swiss Clean Coin Laundry” from about 1968 to 1973, although it has always remained a residence throughout its interesting and varied business history.

The current owners sourced some historic lighting from Grainger's Metal Restoration & Antiques in Dayton, KY for all the pendant and chandelier lights over the staircases.  The lights over the dining room table were from an old church

A full remodel of the 1st floor living room and 2nd floor master bathroom was done in 2020. This included moving the 1st floor Powder Room to under the staircase and the Laundry Room from the living room to the Master Bedroom. Custom cabinets were added where the old rooms were, follwed by custom cabinets to the Dining Room in 2021 and the 2nd Floor Office in 2022. The Dining Room fireplace has been converted from gas to electric and Rookwood Pottery Tiles installed on the surround.

The home was featured in "Walking Cincinnati" (2015) by Danny Korman and Katie Meyer, on the 2014 East Row Garden Walk, and in Best Fine Homes magazine in 2019.

308 Overton Street
Partington-Dalton House

This ca. 1889 home was built by Charles and Amelia Partington. He was a machinist who became foreman and Vice President of Weir Frog Company. In 1906, he founded The Cincinnati Frog and Switch Co. of Cincinnati, where he served as President. The company manufactured specialty items related to railroad tracks and employed over 200 people at its peak during World War I. Partington was the holder of numerous railroad-related patents with the U.S. Patent office. The Partingtons lived in the home for about 10-15 years before moving to Cincinnati. Thereafter, this was the home of siblings Jessie M. Dalton (widow of Richard J.), Mary Alice Dalton, and Henry B. Coffin, a tobacconist. The family, members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, donated the house in 1942 to the church as a parsonage (until 1981).

Over the past 7 years the current owners have updated the 1st and 2nd floors of the house. They applied and received approval for historic tax credits for the renovations. Note the cove ceilings in the living and dining room, as well as the original tiles around the working wood burning fireplaces on the 1st and 2nd floors.

All the brass hardware in the house has been cleaned and restored to its original beauty. Take notice of the door handles and the detailed hinges. Doors in the back of the house have black porcelain doorknobs where they were likely used by service staff.

The Kitchen and Bathroom were both completely renovated in 2023. When the bathroom vanity was removed, the owners discovered that the original entrance to the dining room was on that wall, and not where it is today. The room in 1892 was most likely a pass-through area from the kitchen to the dining room.

822 Park Avenue
Herman Timmermann House

This ca. 1895 Queen Anne-style residence was built for Herman and Bernadina (“Dina”) Timmerman. He and his children were all tailors. After his death, his wife and children lived in the home until 1922, when they moved across the street to 827 Park (which had been purchased in 1915 by their son John).

The house has a side passage plan design with a bracketed wood cornice and gable returns. The stone lintels on the main façade have incised decorative detailing. The porch’s brick piers and railings were added circa 1930.

712 Washington Ave
Gilliam Memorial Hut
John and Rebecca Gilliam House

This hut was built as an act of love by John Gilliam in memory of his wife Becky. John also left us earlier this year, and their children wanted to open this physical testament to their love during this year’s Christmas Tour. John was an avid collector of historical bricks, the evidence of which you will see in his efforts.

712 Washington is a narrow one-story “shot-gun”-style home unusual in the East Row. It was likely built in the 1840s or 1850s, judging from the lack of a rafter-top ridge pole and the contents of the privy excavated by local resident Mike Kolb. Washington Ave. was originally known as “East Row” and was the earliest residential street in east Newport.  The gable front home perches above the street on a large stone retaining wall, and features a three-over-three window on the front façade and entry door with stained glass transom. A modest Victorian porch with gingerbread trim anchors the side elevation.

The origins of this home are a bit of a mystery. The lot was purchased in 1868 by cabinet maker and carpenter Louis Biltz. He and wife Mary lived a block away and owned the property for 40 years. The house appears to have been referenced in an 1884 Enquirer ad stating “Housework. Good girl. Apply at 184 [old no.] Washington Street, Newport, Ky.” In 1885, Henry H. Tapking, a leaf tobacco dealer, applied for the utility connection. (The alley next to the home is named for Tapking, who also lived a block away). As noted above, the house may pre-date Biltz’s ownership.

335 East Third Street
The General James Taylor Mansion
“Bellevue”

James Taylor built his home on the highest point of his land grant at the mouth of the Licking River in what still a wilderness in the early 1790s. In 1815 he replaced that first log home with a grand Federal-style house designed by Benjamin Latrobe, which he named “Bellevue.” A disastrous fire in 1842 led to the home’s Greek Revival incarnation, built ca. 1847. The home originally faced the Ohio River, but in 1889 the building’s wings were removed and relocated. The Colonial Revival portico was added facing the newly-platted Third Street.

In 2005 the Greek Revival main building and its Queen Anne wing were extensively restored. The careful preservation and sensitive updating of the home can be seen in the Greek Revival double parlor, with its Rococo accents; the mahogany and cherry semicircular staircase; stained glass from the mid-1800s and the Victorian period; and original and reproduction light fixtures.

A private home until 1919, Bellevue was the longtime home of the Vonderharr-Stetter-Betz Funeral Home, then later the law offices of Gerner & Kearns.

The home went through an extensive rennovation and conversion to a single-family residence by its current owners. Stained glass, stunning millwork and moldings run through house, The 1st floor features 17+ ft tall ceilings and elegant main staircase. The staircase used to face the front entrace when the entrace was towards the Ohio River, but now overhangs the front door as you enter. The rennovation include a new Italian-style kitchen, new Bathrooms as well as updates to most of the fireplaces.

717 Monroe Street
George and Anna Frischholz House

This broad 1889 two story Italianate has an unusual façade with striking wide windows on the left balancing the doorway on the right.

The home was built for Newport tailor George Frischholz and his wife Anna. The couple left the home to their children, daughter Lillie Waldbillig and son Leonard Frischholz, who together owned it until 1942.

The owners bought the house in late 2020 and have updated the Kitchen, renovated the Master Bathroom, and switched some walls around to make space for an extra Bathroom on the 2nd floor. New hardwood floors were installed on the 2nd and 3rd Floors. An extra bedroom was created on the 3rd Floor by putting up a few walls.

Many of the homes within the East Row Historic District are fitted with spectacular Stained Glass Windows in front or side installations.
Some highlighted addresses are noted below. Please refer to your ticket map. Don’t miss the 300 block of Overton and the 600 Block of Monroe!