Historic Homes of Sycamore Illinois

Almost 6 months has passed since my last walking tour of historic homes. I enjoy taking walks through historic districts, but I don’t always remember to grab my camera. Today I’m really happy to share beautiful historic homes from the quaint town of Sycamore, Illinois. I snapped tons of photos and need to split them into two blog posts … so double the pleasure!

An early morning walk down Somonauk Street afforded me plenty of eye candy as  moved from one gorgeous home to the next. I love that this row of historic homes are painted in thoughtful colors. I’m a huge fan of two-toned windows and this green and rose combination doesn’t disappoint. This is the Charles Kellum home, a prominent attorney and circuit court judge. Believe it or not, this green beauty used to be bigger!  A back portion of the house was removed and located to the lot next door.

 

A simple Queen Anne Victorian home is sweet and endearing, with plenty of curb appeal. Spring tulips greet you at the walkway, and a porch swing invites you to enjoy the outdoor breezes. I love this understated Victorian style home.

 

Do you like red houses? I’ve always been enamored by them. Notice the short brick pillars by the sidewalk; those are historic plaques with information about the home … who first lived there and the year it was built. This is the Chauncey Ellwood house, constructed in Italianate style. Chauncey was the older brother of Isaac Ellwood, a prominent barb wire fencing entrepreneur.

 

This yellow beauty originally belonged to the town’s postmaster. I found myself wondering how a postmaster was able to afford such a grand beauty like this. The postmaster was James Ellwood, another relative of the barbed wire magnate.

 

Also on Somonauk Street is this craftsman style bungalow. The wide staircase invites you up to the 4-season front porch with its expansive arched window.

 

A classic white farmhouse is always appealing and I wondered why this one didn’t have shutters to help break up the expanse of white. But if you look closely, you’ll notice that the windows aren’t place symmetrically on the front of the home. I always wonder why architects don’t take this into consideration when designing homes. Still, it’s a pretty home.

 

I love the home’s charming side porch with a pretty Victorian screen door.

 

A stunning mustard color home with a small porch caught my eye.  This is the Hosea Willard house and showcases a Jerkin roof, which is a combination of a gable roof and a hipped roof. Willard was a well-known mason in the area and constructed a couple of the town’s churches.

 

I love a house that isn’t afraid of color! Especially when it has plenty of gingerbread trim to show off.

 

Right around the corner of the row of expansive historic homes are smaller scale homes that are equally pretty, like this classic clapboard farmhouse with a nice porch, welcoming red door, and stairs to match. I think I’m going to apply this two-tone paint application to my front steps this summer. I never did paint the porch floor last summer like I said I’d do. We first need to level the porch floor before painting it. Another project for our list!

 

I’ll end today’s tour with this charming red brick home. Some of the brick is faded, adding character to this last house in our walking tour of historic homes in Sycamore.

 

I hope you enjoyed this architectural-rich tour. You can see more houses in Sycamore in my previous tours of surrounding neighborhoods below. Next week we’ll tour the rest of the house photos.

Historic Streets of Sycamore

More Historic Homes in Sycamore