Weber, Howard K., House
Why it's listed
This two-story, L-shaped brick house at 925 South Seventh Street in Springfield began as a small dwelling of the 1840s or earlier and grew through five to seven additions. Its present exterior dates from the 1870s and shows Italianate features: bracketed eaves, a low hip roof, arched windows and a two-story bay with Corinthian columns. Howard K. Weber, a Maryland native who served as a commissary sergeant at Camp Butler during the Civil War and later headed First National Bank, bought the house in 1878. As he prospered, he extended and redecorated it, adding parquet floors, a Romanesque Revival stairway, stained glass and frescoed ceilings in 1893. The house is one of the few intact great homes remaining in the former "Aristocrat Hill" neighborhood near the Governor's Mansion. A Gothic Revival carriage house also survives. Together they illustrate how a house changed with its owners' rising fortunes and with late Victorian taste.
Significance in brief: It is one of the few remaining intact great private houses in the area once known as "Aristocrat Hill." Its many documented additions and alterations show changing late 19th century taste, from the Civil War era to World War I. It is also tied to Howard K. Weber, a Civil War commissary sergeant who became president of First National Bank.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79000868, listed October 1, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 925 S. 7th St., Springfield |
|---|---|
| County | Sangamon County |
| Listed | October 1, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79000868 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | Circa 1870's |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Italianate (Italianate Villa), with Gothic Revival carriage house |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as good condition, private residence; interior ceilings and decoration were being restored at the time of nomination. |
| Acreage | 0.4 |
| Coordinates | 39.79175, -89.64672 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79000868.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q20710188
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.