 Around 1900 he purchased the Williamson–Russell House from Jennie Buck to serve as a place to stay when in town.In 1910 his wife died, prompting Rahilly to sell his farmhouse to his daughter and her husband and to move permanently into the Lake City house.That same year Rahilly contracted with Charles A. Koch, a self-taught local architect, to renovate the Greek Revival house into a Neoclassical mansion.