Joseph D. Oliver House
South Bend, IN, listed on the NRHP in St. Joseph County, Indiana
The Joseph D. Oliver House, also known as Copshaholm, sits on 808 W. Washington Street, at the corner of Chapin Street in South Bend, Indiana. The mansion was built for the Oliver family, founders of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, and named after the Scottish village of the patriarch. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built in 1895–96, Copshaholm is a 38-room Romanesque Queen Anne house designed by New York architect Charles Alonzo Rich. The furnishings on all three floors are original, giving visitors a glimpse of how the mansion appeared during the 72 years the Oliver family had occupancy.
Oak, cherry and mahogany woodwork are found throughout Copshaholm. Leaded glass windows and 14 unique fireplaces add to the beauty of the house. The furnishings include porcelains, glass, silver, prints, and bronzes, including some by Bartolozzi and Lorado Taft. The furniture is all original and display beautiful antiques.
Surrounding Copshaholm are 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of landscaped gardens, including a garden tea house, formal Italianate garden, rose garden, pergola, tennis lawn, and fountain.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Joseph D. Oliver House” is south Bend, IN, listed on the NRHP in St. Joseph County, Indiana. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Joseph, Oliver and House, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “south Bend, IN, listed on the NRHP in St. Joseph County, Indiana” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6282427. The first chronological checks are 1895.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Joseph D. Oliver House”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Joseph D. Oliver House primary sources, Joseph D. Oliver House archive and Joseph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joseph D. Oliver House”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Joseph D. Oliver House” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.