St. Charles hopes to sell historic home

A St. Charles home nearly 170 years old is available for any interested parties willing to purchase it, all strings attached.

The Heritage Center in St. Charles quietly vacated the Dunham Hunt House on Cedar Avenue at the beginning of the summer after a tight budget caused the center to cancel its lease with the city. The Heritage Center's other location, about a block away on Main Street, remains open. The center took the artifacts that belonged to its organization when it left. Remaining items were gathered by a group in Wayne that's looking to open its own historical attraction, Public Works Director Mark Koenen said.

The building is now essentially an empty shell that city officials said they really have no use for. Moreover, Koenen said the city is footing the cost of basic utilities and landscaping at the property to keep the home from falling into further disrepair. That bill already costs the city in excess of $10,000 a year. City officials also estimate the house needs $300,000 worth of work, including big-ticket items such as a new roof.

Those will be tricky repairs for any new owner to navigate. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and located in the city's Central Historical District, limiting the options for what can be done to the house. Koenen said the city is interested in talking to anyone who might be willing to purchase the property, but the sale will come with covenants attached.

“The main restrictions are that the building can't be torn down or moved to a different location,” Koenen said.

City council members on the Government Services Committee directed staff to prepare to sell the property. What's the asking price for a home built in 1841 that needs $300,000 in repairs and can't be torn down?

“We're not ready to share that information yet,” Koenen said.