Aurora selects owner for 1840s home

Aurora's newest resident hasn't even closed on her new home yet, but Aimee Kennedy already has begun furniture shopping and planning for a new roof and windows.

The Downers Grove woman was selected by Aurora City Council's finance committee this week to purchase the city's 1840s McArthur house, based on her bid and love of history. Three other bidders were considered.

"Aimee put in an offer of $150,000 for the home and has expressed great enthusiasm for the home's preservation," city planning specialist Jennifer Grobe said.

Kennedy, a native of Chanute, Kan., and her family's historian, learned in recent years that her great-grandparents lived in Aurora around the turn of the last century.

"They were both ensigns in the Salvation Army, and my great-grandfather commanded the troops in Aurora and the surrounding areas," she said.

Owning one of the city's vintage homes is just another way for Kennedy to connect to her family's past.

Kennedy said she would frequently search online for older, more noteworthy properties looking for inspirations for her writing and personal dreaming.

"It was the day before Easter when I logged on and saw the photo of the McArthur home," she said. "It was one of those surreal moments where the world stops existing around you. It's just you and your future meeting up.

"I saw my fingers e-mailing (Grobe), then finding Aurora's city Web site -- and watched the history of my new home unfolding in the slide show."

She met Grobe at the home the following Monday and was so excited she rushed out and bought a new Victorian Rococo Revival chair "for my new parlor."

The home, despite undergoing about $150,000 worth of renovations prior to the sale, still needs some work, but Kennedy said she's eager to get started.

Because of its location in the historic district, it's eligible for additional restoration funds through the city's $10,000 preservation loan and $4,000 window restoration grant programs.

By Nov. 1, she intends to install new storm and screen windows. In the next two years she plans to put a new roof on -- but the work doesn't stop there.

"The transom window above the front door just needs to be uncovered, and then there's the matter of replacing the tile around the fireplace," she said.

"Some woodwork needs to be matched up, things like that. I want to use historically accurate or compatible interior colors on the walls."

The home was just the second house on River Street when it was built in the early 1840s by Alexander McArthur, a barrelmaker who immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland.

In 2005, the Vanstrand Group bought the property at 138 S. River St. to build the River Street Plaza Condominiums. Impressed with the home, developers not only donated the house to the city but also helped move it to its current location in Aurora's Tanner Historic District.

Grobe said the city council's finance committee's recommendation will be reviewed May 6 and likely be approved by the full council May 13. Closing would take place shortly after.

The move-in date, however, can't come fast enough for Kennedy, who plans to share the home with her tortoiseshell cat, Maddie.

"Maddie won't know what to explore first," Kennedy said. "(There's) so many nooks and crannies for afternoon naps."