1894 – Mount Carroll, IL
Added to OHD on 6/3/16 - Last OHD Update: 4/12/20 -
SOLD / Archived Post
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National Register
505 S College St, Mount Carroll, IL 61053
$20,000- 4 Bed
- 1 Bath
- 2004 Sq Ft
Large Victoria located in the Mt. Carroll Historic District. This home features a lovely open staircase along with a second rear stairway. It has 3-4 bedrooms up with bedroom 4 having no closet. The bathroom is located on the second level. The main level offers a living room, dining room, family room, laundry room and kitchen. There is a rear porch along with a covered front porch. The possibilities are endless!
Contact Information
Amy Barnes, Isenhart Realty, OHD Notes
Known as the A.B. Adams House. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
State: Illinois | Region: Midwest (East North Central) | Associated Styles or Type: Queen Anne
Period & Associated Styles: Queen Anne (1880-1910), Victorian Era | Misc: National Register
Period & Associated Styles: Queen Anne (1880-1910), Victorian Era | Misc: National Register
31 Comments on 1894 – Mount Carroll, IL
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Comments that do not add value to the conversation in a positive manner will not be approved.
Click here to read the comment rules, updated 1/12/20.
Commenting means you've read and will abide by the comment rules.
OHD does not represent this home. Price, status and other details must be independently verified. Do not call the agent unless you are interested in the property.
Chestatee, GA
Thanks Alice for sharing!
So glad you posted this home, and also glad it sold! Interesting that the mystery of the hall sink has not been solved. I will always wish I had a way to buy this place and restore it, but it really was too daunting for me at the time. I have been happy with my smaller and renovated Victorian home in Galena, although I have been renting it while I have been working in other cities the past year or so. Thanks for all of these posts, no doubt old homes have been saved through your site!
What’s with that little sink doing in what looks like a hallway?
I think it’s part of a Jack and Jill bathroom.
But don’t you just love the sink! If you ARE going to have a sink in a hallway, this would be the one you’d want =o)
Absolutely would be the one I want. It’s perfect!
Escondido, CA
This house has a back staircase, lots of potential, and random cute little sinks!
Cute house. This is a quaint little town near the Mississippi River.
For old house lovers, a trip to Mount Carroll is a must. The old college by itself is worth the trip. The history, the structures and how the citizens are trying to keep it from disrepair is amazing. We usually walk the campus, peek in windows of the vacant structures, take pictures and admire the many old trees (which are identified.) Many old homes, some still kept up and others like this old dame.
Diane, I visited Mount Carroll a few times way back in the 70’s before Shimer College moved to the suburbs. As you say, it’s a great little town with 175 years of history and wonderful old buildings. The campus is owned by the International Preservation Studies Center, and I think Frances and Cinderella who started the first college here in 1853 would be pleased to see it.
http://www.preservationcenter.org/#!history/c8rl
Thanks for the link. I was always a little frightened when we visited Shimer College because some buildings looked on the edge. Sounds like they’ve turned the corner on being profitable and what a wonderful legacy.
Lovely and for the price of an SUV. I am a sucker for back staircases.
Look at the photo around back with the basement bulkhead.
The town was founded in the 1840s, could this house be older?
Maybe the house was expanded in 1894?
Lovely Victorian Queen Anne style cottage. It was originally described as from 1878 (almost too early for a Queen Anne cottage in this part of the country) now 1894, which seems more likely. I’m wondering where did the 1894 date come from? Then there’s the “mystery” sink upstairs with its single (cold water?) faucet. Restored and painted in period Victorian colors this could be a small jewel of a house. The price is truly a bargain for the features offered. I’d like to see what someone could do with this house and hope they would be willing to share their progress via a blog or social media.
Chestatee, GA
The National Register dates the house as 1894.
Thanks, I’m sure careful research led to establishing this date although submissions made to the National Register are not always ironclad. (especially those from past decades which were often furnished by local historical societies at a time when access to information now online wasn’t available) Houses of this kind were still being built in 1894 so that works for me. It was also nice so see local landmarks on a list from Wikipedia. Sounds like a very preservation conscious town-a good thing for most old house lovers.
Could this sink be for filling the pitcher and bowls used at that time and the drain would have been just for an accidental overfill? It doesn’t have a sink bowl so I’m curious about this.
I love seeing the woodwork with a stained finish but the painted woodwork makes me heart sick.
A rehabbers dream. If I had the money, it would be mine. When all work is done, this house would triple in price.
Big Rog, I think if you did this right you could add another zero to the figure. ($250K) It’s THAT good in my opinion.
That tower looks a little suspect to me. I wonder if a larger Italian Villa tower was lopped off. A lot of 1970s – 80s awfulness to undo. Wall to wall in the bathroom? Orange walls? Pretty superficial, tho. I was at Shimer in 1965 – 66. Loved the town!
Not a mystery sink if one considers that it may have been viewed as a “modern” convenience: access to water and a drain in a time when people used wash basins and pitchers to wash up in their bedrooms.
Love this house and the hallway sink!
I sure hope that someone buys this grand old lady and restores her to her former glory days. If I was younger and had the money to restore, I would tackle this one for sure. But whats with the carpet in the bathrooms? and I wonder whats under that ugly kitchen floor. And why oh why do people paint the beautiful wood moldings. A lot of paint removal and restore hopefully original floors… A sweet home would love to see it restored.
At least they didn’t paint ALL that beautiful trim orange! Here’s a new term: selective paneling! But really, just cleaning out the junk might add some value to this one at that low entry price! One room at a time……
That “junk” was the poor family trying to sort through their deceased loved ones belongings while putting the house on the market….
Have a heart and don’t be so quick to judge.
Am I drunk or am I actually reading 25,000 dollars??
The house doesn’t look all that bad for just 25K. Put another 100K into it and it would be a great house. I like the light on the stair rail. Was that common in those days?
Roger,
Newel post lamps were very popular during the Victorian era. In large mansions they were often found in pairs, were gas lit, and could be of substantial size. By the time this house was built, they were a common feature even in smaller houses. While decorative, they were mainly a safety feature as trying to walk down a steep staircase in the dark can be dangerous so they were lit at night and extinguished in the morning. The grape cluster milk glass shade (hope its not plastic!) is probably non original, but the brass lamp fixture does appears to be old. By the 1890’s newel post lamps were being electrified so one would want to see if there was gas piping coming up from the floor or wiring. This one is electric but may have originally burned gas. Old gas lamps can be electrified. Whatever the type, its very much worth keeping the lamp and finding a suitable period shade for it. Many of these old lamps were removed and the newel post capped with a block of wood during the time when everything Victorian fell out of favor so having a surviving original is a real treasure. “Gas Wizard” has a collection of photos on Flickr showing period lighting and lighting ads to provide an idea of what was popular and available back then: https://www.flickr.com/photos/antiquelighting/
I’m always a sucker for a back staircase, but *especially* the kind with the door half-way up!!!! And even though I’m sure it’s a newer addition, for some reason i’m totally swooning over that little desk/stairway to the tiny window!!!
Carpets totally gotta go though. Of course.
I toured this house.
Too bad the roof is currently leaking and damaging the staircase floors and walls.
Also the basement had a puddle of current water/rain.
Disclosure says homeowner is aware of basement seapage.
My opion is – there is a structural issue in the basement as house is being held up with jacks and double 2×6 beams.
I don’t think thats adequate.
Some areas of beams where there is no support is sagging. Scarry
Otherwise its a very cool house with lots of pocket doors (don’t know if they work as i did not check em – sagging in floors may affect thet)
Has nice features.
But it would cost me many of muchoes to fix roof, walls, and structural.
Looking at the front of the house the “tower” has a round window (?) at the top. Could that have been a clock? I thought the milkglass light on the staircase was unusual.
Was the original upholding supports not enough for the building? Is that why there is sagging?