One of Springfield’s most historic homes is now on the market. The Bookwalter Mansion, built in 1876, was one of the anchors on South Fountain Avenue, a neighborhood home to many of Springfield’s leading industrialists.
Francis Bookwalter was the Treasurer of the Leffel Corporation. He built the home in the architectural style known as Second Empire.
The mansion is listed on the national, state and local historic register and current owners Mike and Shelly Lopez say after, 20 years of owning it, the sale is bittersweet. “Our investment in the house has been for over twenty years, thousands of people who have visited the home from this city and they’re from every walk of life.”
Lopez says the house drew a lot of interest from the Smithsonian Institute’s Victorian Society in America. “They were here for an evening of coffee and they looked through the house and they found all kinds of things that were unique and noteworthy. Which was cool for us. Because we just live here.”
The Lopez family says the home requires consistent upkeep and they would like to see a multi-generational family move in, or see interest from an intentional community committed to preserving its historic architecture.