As one of the East Row Historic District's two neighborhoods, Mansion Hill derived its name from the James Taylor Mansion, built in the 1840s on top of a small hill in what used to be the vast Taylor family estate.
Mansion Hill's diversity is evident as one walks along its streets. It is home to some of the district's most elegant houses, the corporate headquarters of Star-Kist Foods Inc., and the Mansion Hill Tavern, the home base of the Greater Cincinnati Blues Society.
Mansion Hill was subdivided and developed for residential use in the 1890s, two decades after development started in its sister neighborhood to the south, Gateway. Many of Newport's most affluent citizens built their homes in Mansion Hill, choosing among a wide variety of architectural styles of that era.
In the heart of the neighborhood, at Park and Fourth streets, one can find the George Wiedemann Jr. Mansion, a magnificent buff brick Colonial Revival home built in 1899 for the son of the beer baron, George Wiedemann. Today, the mansion houses the Northern Kentucky District Health Department. It is owned by the neighboring St. John's United Church of Christ.
The prevalent architectural style in Mansion Hill seems to have been the elegant artistic expression of Queen Anne, although one finds the more restrained influence of Italianate interspersed along the area's streetscapes, as well as Second Empire.
One of Mansion Hill's most unique streetscapes can be found along Third Street, just west of the Taylor Mansion. Referred to by some as Queen Anne Row, the homes along the north side of Fourth Street seem at first glance to all look alike. But further study reveals a high degree of individualistic architectural expression.
Another one of Mansion Hill's most fascinating buildings is the Beaux Arts Building at Sixth and Linden streets. Built as a Catholic girls school in 1898 and designed by noted Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford, the brick structure may have been inspired by the Schoenbrune Palace in Vienna, Austria. At the turn of the 21st century, the building was primarily used as temporary corporate housing for Greater Cincinnati's bustling business community. In 2007, The Hannaford was converted into forty modern condominiums.
