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(Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, A Division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, Ralph Wilcox, photographer)
Tappan moved from Franklin, Tennessee, to Helena in 1848, where he established a law practice and entered politics, serving in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 1858, he purchased this partially completed house begun for Robert Malony. At that time, Tappan owned the entire block as well as the adjacent one to the east. The house, monumental and symmetrical in the front, is a fine example of Greek Revival, but the paired brackets that line the pediment add a note of the Italianate style that was popular in the South both before and following the Civil War. Among the outbuildings was a detached kitchen, which has since been converted for other uses. During the war, the Union Army confiscated the house and grounds. After the war, Tappan and his wife returned to Helena, and he resumed the practice of law and was reelected in 1897 as a state representative.