Cassimus House
The Cassimus House is a registered private property under the National Register of Historic Places dedicated to the first Greek immigrants in Montgomery, Alabama. The builder of the house, Speridon Cassimus known as the "father of the Greek community" was one of the first Greek immigrants to the state. The Greek communities in the state have little or no physical heritage dating much earlier than the early 20th century, when their churches were built; and the Cassimus House is possibly the oldest remaining landmark associated with the early history of the Greeks in Alabama.
The house not only reflects the newly-acquired prosperity of its Greek immigrant builder, but is one of the earliest landmarks associated with the Greek community in Alabama. When Speridon Cassimus built his home at 110 Jackson Street in 1893, he was a newly successful businessman and he wanted his neighbors to know it.
Speridon Cassimus, a married man with two children, left his native home of Othonior, Corfu, and his family, with the promise that once enough money was earned, he would return to bring them to America. He came to the United States on December 28, 1888. From the profits of the successful wholesale fruit business which he operated on Bibb Street in Alabama, he accomplished this goal in 1892 and was successful enough to have purchased the lot and begun construction of the home. When he returned from Greece with his family, he brought with him fig trees, flowering Sparta bushes and many other garden variety plumb to use around his home.
The Cassimus House is a two-story frame structure with a hipped roof with several gables extending from it. Stylistically it is highly eccentric late Victorian combining an asymmetrical, domed front porch with articulated Greek Revival detailing on cornices and bay windows. There has been some alteration to the exterior of the house, but the interior is in excellent and original condition. All moldings, hardware, doors, mantels and floor are either intact or in storage.
The building sit is one of the most prominent in Montgomery, being on-the crest of a hill which rises two blocks above and behind the State Capitol. Much of the original landscaping remains along with many of the plants brought by Cassimus from Greece. An iron fence surrounds the front yard which is divided by a front walk. Two brick octagons flank the walk and are surrounded by a border of grass and flowers. The back yard was terraced, featuring an upper terrace devoted to grass and flowers, and a lower terrace separated by a brick wall which still remains, given to the growing of vegetables.
