Cappon House (Isaac and Catarina DeBoe Cappon House)

This mildly Italianate wooden house was constructed by local builder Kleyn (1841–1895), a Dutch immigrant, for Isaac Cappon (1830–1902) and Catarina DeBoe Cappon (1837–1887), immigrants from the Province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, and their eleven children. Founder of the Cappon and Bertsch Leather Tannery, which was the mainstay of the Holland economy in the late nineteenth century, Cappon was a leading industrialist and Holland's first mayor. One of the best-preserved houses built soon after the fire of 1871, it retains much of its decorative detailing and its original furnishings. Since the Cappons lost most of their furniture as well as their house in the fire, they acquired new furniture befitting an upper-middle-class family from Grand Rapids manufacturers such as Berkey and Gay. The house remained in the Cappon family until the late 1970s. Now a part of the Holland Museum, Cappon House holds one of the best collections of Grand Rapids furniture in its original setting. Winkler of Philadelphia, noted historian of design, oversaw the interior and furnishings restoration of Cappon House as a house museum.