Two lion statues — one asleep, one alert — greet those who walk the smooth and time-worn marble steps leading up to the Greek revival mansion known as “Riverview.”
Though the house is roughly 170 years old, laughter and awe still fills each person as they walk into the grand foyer welcomed with the view of a spiral staircase lined with ornately-framed paintings of all sizes.
Owner Dick Leike purchased the home in 2016 and has slowly worked on restoring the original detail of the house. Only the first and second floors are open to the tours. Though Christmas has come and gone, festive decorations are still prevalent throughout the house because Leike said it brings joy to some to walk in and see holiday decor.
“We haven’t changed it since we fixed it up for Christmas,” Leike said. “It’s a big job to fix it up, so we decided we would leave it because sometimes people like to see a little Christmas at another time of the year. Eventually, we’ll clear it out, but we wanted to let people see what we do at Christmastime. During Christmas, we do have a full-sized Santa that sits on the balcony and waves.”
Historic Home Tours of Columbus began its inaugural tours Thursday with four homes available to tour, including Riverview. Leike, the president for the Historic Home Tours of Columbus group, told The Dispatch there are more than a dozen homes taking part in the event that runs through March 25.
Each home has been restored to its near original look both on the interior and exterior. The homes include period appropriate fixtures, decorations and furniture — some so ornate they capture the attention of the whole room.
Kimberly Lambert and Vincent Kelley traveled from the Memphis, Tennessee, area just to tour the homes, more specifically Riverview. As some of the first inside at the 2 p.m. tour Thursday, the two met Fred Haley, who lives on the grounds, and enjoyed a tour of the first and second floors of the sprawling home.
“We see him at other estate sales and auctions, and we were like, ‘(Leike) is buying the best of the best, so let’s go see where he’s putting it at,’” Lambert said. “They’ve made an impressive restoration, and I love the fact that they are preserving the history.”
Throughout the final full week of March, the Historic Home Tours group will host various home tours as well as two special events on Saturday and March 25 — a music and storytelling event at Shadowlawn from 7 to 9 p.m. and a mint julep party at Baskerville Manor from 3 to 6 p.m., respectively.
A full list of the homes, the addresses and tour dates are online at historichomes.tours/calendar. Single home tour tickets are $20, and multi-home tours are $30.
“My hometown was burned, and most of these kinds of houses didn’t exist after the Civil War,” said Leike, a native of Atlanta, Georgia.
“It’s lucky this town wasn’t because they used it as a hospital a lot. The Battle of Shiloh — there were a lot wounded. It’s so amazing what they did when they built this house.”
The Preservation Society of Columbus, a separate group, will host its event — the Pilgrimage: Jubilee of Homes — starting March 31.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
