Landmark Nomination for 14930 S. Illinois Street.Pdf
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Village of Plainfield Historic Preservation Commission Nomination for Individual Landmark Listing in Register of Historic Places For the property located at: 14930 S. Illinois Street Plainfield, IL 60585 April 4, 2019 1 Table of Contents Cover 1 Appendix E 35 Summary Statement of Significance Part I Survey Description 3 Appendix F 36 Exhibit Table of Contents Part II Overview 4 Exhibit A 37 Ingersoll’s Original Plat of Planefield Part III Architecture 5 Exhibit B 38 Ingersoll’s Addition to Plainfield Part IV Photo Descriptions 21 Exhibit C 39 Plat of Arnold’s Addition to Plainfield Appendix A 22 Early Plainfield Exhibit D 40 Chittenden & Smiley’s subdivision Appendix B 27 of a part of the SE ¼ of Sec. 9 The Levi Arnold Connection Exhibit E 41 Appendix C 29 Edgar L. Doud’s Re-Subdivision of The Jacobs-Bates-Crist-Doud Connection Block 3 in Arnold’s Addition to Plainfield Appendix D 32 Exhibit F 42 The Levi Baldwin Overman, Jr. & Chain of Title for 14930 S. Illinois Elisha Brown Connection Bibliography 46 2 Part I Survey Description Nomination for listing in the Plainfield, Illinois Register of Historic Places Individual Landmark Overman – Brown – Buss Residence - 1884 14930 S. Illinois Street, Plainfield, Illinois Note: at the time of construction the name of the street was Arnold which was later changed to Illinois - f/k/a 806 N. Illinois Street, Plainfield, Illinois PIN: 06-03-09-404-010-0000 That part of Lots 2 & 3 in Doud’s subdivision of Block 3 of Arnold’s Addition, begin at a point in the westerly line of Arnold (Illinois) which is 30’ southeasterly from the NE corner of said Lot 2, thence in a southeasterly direction along the westerly line of Arnold (Illinois) St., which is 30’ southeasterly from the NE corner of said Lot 2, thence in a southeasterly direction along the westerly line of Arnold (Illinois) St. 119’, thence in a southwesterly direction at right angles to the West line of said street, 120’, thence in a westerly direction 61.78’ to a point which is 82 ½’ East of the east line of said DesPlaines Street, thence North 105.77’, thence northeasterly 109’ to the place of beginning, except the West 1 ½’ thereof, all in SE ¼ of Sec. 9 Petitioner: Bryan & Jennifer Buss A request to the Village of Plainfield to consider designating the structure at 14930 S. Illinois Street, a local landmark. This residence was included in a field survey conducted in December 2005 by Alice Novak representing ArchiSearch Historic Preservation Consultants. 3 Part II Overview Buildings can be viewed as puzzles of sorts, with different pieces – the roof, the windows, the door placement, the decoration-forming one picture. Then groupings of buildings, even community-wide can be pieces of a broader puzzle, putting together a picture of how and when a community developed. Buildings can be organized and analyzed by looking at details, architectural elements, scale and massing, and width and depth. This generally falls into two categories – architectural style and vernacular building types. Architectural styles and vernacular building types help illustrate how communities developed – periods of our history where more growth occurred, what the favored tastes of the times were and more. Architectural terminology can take years to learn and can be rather over-whelming. It is important to note that some buildings may reflect architectural style and a vernacular building type. The house under consideration for this nomination was begun in the spring or summer of 1884, since the owner Levi Baldwin Overman, Jr. purchased the lot from Riley and Mary Hess on May 13, 1884 for $250. This property is a Cross Plan house with intersecting gable wings with an Italianate influence – broad roof overhangs, shaped brackets on broad cornices, taller vertical double-hung sashes and hoodmolds. This was one of the most popular residential styles in the mid to late nineteenth century and Plainfield has only six documented Cross Plan properties. This style coincided with a period of great population growth, commercial and industrial expansion in the United States and is commonly found throughout Illinois. Residential versions saw a boxy, square shape and often featured a reentrant angle porch that emphasized one side of the gable front more than the other. 4 Part III Architecture Plate 1 – South Façade, Original House Plate 1 Gives us a glimpse of how the residence appeared shortly after construction (note the small saplings and ornamental shrubs). The view shows the south-facing facade of a typical Cross-Plan residence, the character of which is determined by many applied elements consisting of: door trim, window trim, eave brackets, gable embellishment and shutters. Not discernible in this photograph are the decorative panel details above and below the bay windows. The value of this historic photograph cannot be overestimated! It is possible to create a time-lapse sequence of imagined photographs that take this structure from 1888 to the present. 5 Plate 2 – South Façade, Current Plate 2 Taken in March 2019 this image nearly duplicates the viewing angle of Plate 1. Notable changes include the completion of a two-story addition added onto the south side of the original structure. In addition the original entry vestibule has been extended to the east to align with the main house along the street-facing main entry facade. Gable trim and shutters have also been removed. 6 Plate 3 - East Entry Façade, Current Plate 3 Note the symmetrical primary façade as evidenced by the side-by-side double-hung windows aligning below the center gable on each floor including a single-sash attic window. As noted, the original single-story entry vestibule was extended to align with the east wall and was constructed to retain the trim details reminiscent of the period style. 7 A7 A5 A4 A3 A1 A2 A6 Plate 4 - East Façade, First Floor Window Detail Plate 4 Very popular at the time of construction, side-by-side, double-hung, 3-over-1 cottage-style windows. The wood trim provides a significant Italianate influence including pediment blocks, fluted trim and capital blocks meant to simulate the look of a column. See photo descriptions in Appendix A (p. 21) for more detail. 8 Plate 5 - East Façade, Second Floor and Attic Window Details Plate 5 The second floor windows in this facade mirror those on the lower floor. The attic window includes a very similar design without the emulated pitched moulding articulation at the top and with detailed contrasting color panels in the side trim in lieu of fluted trim. 9 Plate 6 - East Façade, Entry Plate 6 The entry door trimmed in a similar style to the windows however does not retain the base and capital blocks. We know that this entry is a modification of the original construction, however it does fit in with the facade as a whole. The pre-cast concrete steps were added after the modification of this entry vestibule. In addition with the trim detail, this face contains detail common to many homes in this locality and era - water table drip edge, lap siding with a five inch exposure and narrow vertical corner boards to allow the siding to make a butt fit. 10 F1 B1 B2 B3 Addition ‘A’ Plate 7 - North Façade, with Addition ‘A’ (view from NE) Plate 7 The area in the forefront of this view clearly shows two of the wings of the original Cross Plan design. The windows and wood trim generally follow the same stylistic expression as the east façade with the exception of the second story window on the north face of the east wing which, as a result of the roof eave utilizes a straight horizontal cap trim detail in lieu of the more embellished pitched moulding as constructed elsewhere. This view also shows the natural cut limestone foundation which is utilized around the entire perimeter. Please note a lean-to addition (Addition ‘A’) along the north face of the west wing with shed roof extending to the north side of the original house. While the addition incorporates a similar foundation and base trim height as the original home it is unfortunately not successful in incorporating comparable trim around the windows. See photo descriptions in Appendix A (p. 21) for more detail. 11 G1 Plate 8 - North Facade Plate 8 Here we can see a better view of the very tall first floor window and a small octagon window which is trimmed in a contemporary style brick mold. See photo descriptions in Appendix A (p. 21) for more detail. 12 Plate 9 - West Façade, with Addition ‘B’ (Looking SE) Addition ‘B’ Plate 10 - West Façade, with Addition ‘B’ Plates 9 & 10 A single-story addition (Addition ‘B’) to the first floor west face of the west wing with low-pitched shed- style roof. Some elements of the addition attempt to reproduce the style patterns of the original residence including the foundation/first floor heights, base trim and window proportions. The roof overhang (along the west edge) and fascia height is also a similar to the original. The wood trim however, including the door & window surrounds, frieze boards and corners is similar but not exact. 13 Plate 11 - West & South Façade, with Addition ‘C’ Plate 11 A two-story addition (Addition ‘C’) ‘filling-in’ the southwest open corner of the cross plan appears to be two separate additions. The first story portion seems to be an enclosed addition not unlike the west and north side additions though likely constructed at a later date. The second story portion was likely added as a screened in porch and was later enclosed with double-hung windows.