Historic Homes of Geneva, Illinois

Easter weekend brought fabulous weather to our neck of the woods with sunshine and warm breezes. Mind you, we sometimes have snow on Easter Sunday. But it was so nice out that we took a walk in my home town of Geneva, Illinois before heading over to my sister’s house for dinner. The historic homes are beautiful and I never tire of admiring them.

Some of the older homes in Geneva have been converted to stores or offices. I love this old stone house that currently houses an insurance company. It looks smaller from this angle than it actually is.

 

When you turn the corner, you see the true expanse of this historic beauty.

 

And on the porch is a cute cow. The sign says “American Livestock Insurance Company.”

 

This gorgeous, white stucco home enjoys three stories of living space.

 

Geneva has plenty of white, classic homes – like this Colonial style proudly waving the flag. I could’ve used this photo for last week’s post about picket fences!

 

One of my favorite historic homes in Geneva is this beauty (of course, I have a lot of favorites in my home town). On Easter Sunday, this home had a special surprise in the side yard.

 

The owners placed sheep figurines in the yard! I thought these were just adorable grazing in the yard. The porch is looking festive for the holiday, as well.

 

This stately home once belonged to a long-serving alderman. I went to high school with his daughter. Her father passed away several years ago and a new family moved into the home.

 

New to this property is a charming garage with a weather vane on top.

 

Next to the former alderman’s house is this new home. This property used to be part of the alderman’s yard, but was subdivided to add three new houses, each one more gorgeous than the next.

 

Another favorite home is this stone charmer! If you look closely you’ll see the cherubs on the doors.

 

Like the first home in this post, when you turn the corner you’ll see that the home is larger than it first appears.

 

Another classic white house is this two-story that belonged to my friend’s mother, who was rather famous around town. Her mom was blind and walked all over town with her seeing-eye dog. I once painted her kitchen ceiling and wondered how she’d know if I did a good job. She was the sweetest lady ever!

 

A stately, green stucco home enjoys a corner lot.

 

Do you like Victorian houses with gingerbread trim and turrets?

 

And yet another stone house with a gorgeous magnolia tree! Perfect for spring.

 

Heading back into town, we walk down Third Street which is a quaint shopping district. You’ll find gorgeous historic homes turned into stores.

 

Merchants have decorated their porch for spring. Easter Sunday was a perfect time to get photos without people in the way, since all the stores were closed.

 

A cute, blue ice cream parlor chair graces the other end of the store’s porch.

 

Next door a merchant planted hyacinths in a willow basket.

I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of historic homes in Geneva. We now live just 10 minutes west of my home town, but if we move I’d like to go back to Geneva. It’s such a charming town!