Historical society gives plaque to Alford home
Submitted by McHenry County Historical Society
The McHenry County Historical Society Committee recently put a historical plaque on the Dr. Franklin and Mrs. Rilla Alford home in the village of Lakewood at 1110 S. Shore Drive.
The year was 1957. Gasoline was 24 cents a gallon, the first nuclear reactor went online, and the launching of Sputnik started the Space Race. The future was “Now!” and in architecture and design, this was the era of the “New Look.”
Designed by one of McHenry County's stellar architects, John Vincent Anderson, the contemporary Alford Home is the first true Mid-Century Modern Style home in McHenry County.
The Alford Home is a testament to that “New Look,” which included a new creation, the “open-plan,” that of merging the living room, dining room and kitchen. This new way of arranging living space created the very essence of expressing leisure.
Behind its facade of snap and vitality, smooth cedar, simple flat roof configuration, a generous entry porch, and large overhangs, exists a home designed to help its occupants relax.
When interior spaces are fluid there is a craving for light, and the abundance of floor to ceiling glass in the Alford Home, along with 12 large skylights, fills that need, not to mention bringing in the panoramic views of Crystal Lake.
From the open reception foyer, Brazilian mahogany doors, use of brushed chrome and marble floors, to the large centered fireplace, the Alford Home is a true testament to modernists sensibility in McHenry County.
Dr. Franklin L. Alford was born in 1899 in Cropsey, Ill. He was a World War I and World War II veteran who earned his degree at the University of Illinois and completed his residency at Lutheran Memorial in Chicago.
He opened his private practice in Crystal Lake in 1926 and, after living and working in the same building, 3 W. Crystal Lake Ave. for 31 years, Dr. and Mrs. Rilla Alford, in 1957, commissioned John Vincent Anderson to design their new Modern Style home.
Within a few years, they added a family room and replaced the carport with a garage. Dr. Alford formally retired in 1965, but continued to practice medicine up until his passing on June 22, 1977. Rilla Alford passed away in 1995 at age 90. Both were greatly respected in the Crystal Lake area.
Through dedicated restoration and updating, the present owner has created a dialogue with this home that has enriched it with newness and adventure.
Winston Churchill said, “First we shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” Unfortunately, very few residents in McHenry County know the historical background of the buildings around them, the buildings that shape them.
The McHenry County Historical Society is working to change that. They invite people with architectural or historically significant buildings, homes, businesses, farms to apply for a plaque.
For details, contact the McHenry County Historical Society at (815) 923-2267, info@mchsonline.org or visit [URL]MCHSonline.org.;http://www.mchsonline.org/[URL][/URL]