One of a very few reused buildings constructed for the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, this originally lath-and-plaster structure housed the Van Houten Cocoa Company's display. Dutch architect Guillaume Wyuen based his design on the 1591 town hall in Franker, Holland. Brookline resident Charles B. Appleton acquired it at auction. He hired Kingsbury and Richardson to remodel it for a residence with an exterior of brick and cast stone on a site then overlooking the new Boston Park System. Appleton retained every salvageable element of the original building, including features such as doors and wall tiles that had come from old Dutch houses.