Chauncey Ellwood House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Chauncey Ellwood House
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois, USA |
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| Built | 1859 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Part of | Sycamore Historic District (ID8003104) |
| Added to NRHP | May 2, 1978 |
The Chauncey Ellwood House is a historic home built in 1859. It is located in Sycamore, Illinois. This beautiful house is designed in the Italianate style. It is part of the Sycamore Historic District, which is a special area recognized for its important old buildings. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This means it's considered a very important historical place in the United States. You can find it on Somonauk Street. The house next door, called the Esther Mae Nesbitt House, used to be the carriage house for the Ellwood home.
The Ellwood House: A Look Inside
The Chauncey Ellwood House is a great example of Italianate architecture. Today, it is painted a bright red color. In the backyard, there is a large pond. The Esther Mae Nesbitt House is right next door, to the northwest.
The front of the house has a long porch. Four wooden columns with decorative brackets hold up the porch roof. Two more wooden supports are attached to the house wall at each end of the porch. A small triangular shape, called a pediment, hangs over the front stairs.
The porch you see today is not the original one. Old photos from the 1970s show that the first porch was much longer. It went all the way across the front and continued along the entire north side of the house. In those days, the stairs were at the far south end of the house, not in the middle like they are now.
Meet Chauncey Ellwood
Chauncey Ellwood was an important person in Sycamore. He was the older brother of Isaac Ellwood, who was famous for his barbed wire business in nearby DeKalb, Illinois.
Chauncey Ellwood had many jobs. He was a lawyer, helping people with legal matters. He was also a merchant, meaning he bought and sold goods. For a time, he even served as the mayor of Sycamore. This means he was the leader of the city government.
The Grounds and Patten's Pond
The backyard of the Chauncey Ellwood House has a natural pond. This pond has a special history. According to the folklore of the Potawatomi tribe, who lived in this area long ago, the pond was once a watering hole for native buffalo. These large animals would come to drink from the pond before they moved further west.
In the 1900s, this pond became known as Patten's Pond. It remains a beautiful feature of the house's grounds.
