The Lincoln Homestead in Springfield, Illinois: Humble Home of a President

The Lincolns purchased their Greek Revival one-story home in 1844. Twelve years later, in 1856, a full second story was added to become a nearly 3,000-square-foot home. Renovations included Italianate details, such as a low-pitched roof, and projecting eaves with large brackets. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

The Greek Revival wood-sided home in Springfield, Illinois, built in 1839 and purchased by Abraham and Mary Lincoln in May 1844, was originally one and a half stories with five rooms and a sleeping loft. However, as Lincoln’s legal profession gained respect, he was able to afford a full second story and other renovations.

The home’s architectural style was hardly distinct. Yet when Lincoln joined the hotly contested 1860 race to become the nation’s 16th president, all eyes were on the home at the corner of Eighth and Jackson streets. So much interest was piqued, in fact, that the then widely read Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper sent an artist to sketch a few rooms. The detailed engravings provided readers nationwide with a glimpse of the eclectic décor in the only home the Lincolns would ever own.

Bedrooms are on the added second floor, with rooms for gathering and entertaining relegated to the first floor. The National Park Service shares that the Lincolns chose furnishings that “reflected the tastes of a prosperous mid-19th-century American family,” primarily a blend of revival styles such as Renaissance, Rococo, and Empire.

Lincoln Home Historic Site curator Susan Haake explained in an interview that about 50 artifacts remain in the home, with other antique pieces carefully selected to convey what the Lincolns owned. “They had a big sale before they left for Washington and decided to rent their home while they were away,” she said. “Some pieces were sold to locals, some were stored with Mary’s family, and the horsehair pieces were housed across the street.”

And while historically significant events happened inside the home, including the birth of three sons and the death of one, as well as a presidential nomination and appointment, it was still an everyday dwelling place, to be used and enjoyed as homes are supposed to be.

Probably the most photographed item in the Lincoln historic home is this slant-top, dark walnut desk with eight open pigeonholes for organizing letters and papers. While a small desk, especially considering Abraham’s size, it is where he wrote many political speeches. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

Although Victorian and other 19th-century popular décor styles were present in the floral carpet, wallpaper, and window treatments in the front parlor, practicality is evident in the Lincolns' woven horsehair chairs, chosen for durability and ease-of-care to cover wood-frame seating. The highly detailed Temple Parlor wood stove is a replica of the home’s original, which is on display at the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan, and served as a functional yet decorative room accessory. The circa 19th-century lithographs of George and Martha Washington hold a place of honor over the hearth. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

This corner of the front parlor is arranged today exactly as it was when the Lincolns lived in the home. The side chair and mahogany rocking chair sport the same woven horsehair found on all the Lincolns' upholstered pieces, while the corner étagère (a ladder-type bookshelf) features antique “whatnots,” or what we refer to today as knickknacks. Hanging on the wall is a shadow box featuring an artistic arrangement of real hair, another 19th-century commonality. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

Originally part of the kitchen, the dining room was separated to be a more formal room when the second full floor was added to the home in 1856. The Hitchcock-style painted mahogany chairs were used by the Lincolns, as was the dining table. Mary’s transfer-print ironstone dinnerware was not salvaged, but National Park Service curators found antique dinnerware similar to that which was used regularly by the Lincolns. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

The Royal Oak cast-iron wood stove that the Lincolns used daily was made in Buffalo, New York, and would still be in working order if it was once again hooked up to a chimney flue. This stove was considered multifunctional in that it helped warm the home, had an oven and stove top, kept cooked food warm on its front hearth, and heated actual cast irons for pressing clothing. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

Abraham’s and Mary’s bedrooms were separate but right next door to one another. This bed, though not original to the house, is the same size as the one Lincoln slept in. A common question when people tour the historic home is: Did his feet hang off? Most likely they did, is the answer that interpretive National Park Service park rangers often give. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

Mary’s bedroom was where she not only rested but also sewed. Since closets were typically not part of a 19th-century home’s design, armoires housed clothing, and hers was most likely a stately solid wood piece such as the one currently on display in her bedroom. She also had a rocking chair and dressing table. The current wallpaper in her bedroom is a copy of the original that once graced the house. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)

While the back parlor was first the Lincolns’ bedroom, the added second story enabled them to move their bedrooms upstairs and turn their original bedroom into a second parlor. An Empire-style, marble-topped table with scroll legs and casters served as a centerpiece in the room, with more woven horsehair upholstered chairs as main seating. (Courtesy of the National Park Service)