Today’s historic property is actually four separate structures that are linked by the design and builder.  The Van Frank cottages are significant architecturally. Located between the MacArthur Park Historic District, to the immediate north, and the Marshall Square Historic District, a few blocks to the southeast, the Van Frank cottages represent a transition between the two.

While typical of the scale and speculative nature that characterizes the Marshall Square Historic District, the Van Frank cottages are reflective of the MacArthur Park Historic District in stylistic detail and in the ancestry and occupations of their owners and occupants.

Built in 1908, the cottages were the rental property of Philip R. Van Frank. They are the only existing historic houses associated with this civil engineer, who was instrumental in the improvement of Arkansas’ rivers.

Each of the four cottages is simply,  yet finely crafted with Colonial Revival details. In their unaltered state they are typical examples of the period. The cottages have been the residences of many individuals of diverse backgrounds.

The four cottages were added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 1985.