Historic Elgin House Tour moves to Gold Coast, adds dinner and kids' tickets

For its 37th year, the Elgin Historic House Tour on Sept. 8-9 moves to Elgin's famous “Gold Coast” on the city's far northeast side.

And it adds some new features, including a dinner/lecture aimed at people who want to find out more about Elgin's past and a low-price “Young Preservationist” ticket that makes it more affordable for families to bring along children ages 8 to 18.

The tours are put on annually by the Gifford Park Association and are set in a different historic neighborhood each year.

This year, tour Chairman Mike Haskins said, the GPA picked seven houses in the Spring Street/Douglas Avenue Historic District, also known as “The Gold Coast.”

“This northeast neighborhood is noted for grand houses, and the tour will feature seven beautiful historic homes in a variety of architectural styles you are sure to enjoy,” Haskins said.

After checking in at Sherman Hospital's East Side Campus at 901 Center St., participants will take a self-guided tour, within easy walking distance between sites. Some 350 volunteer docents will direct visitors through each house and describe the history and architecture of each site.

The former hospital has a large parking lot adjacent to it.

“Douglas Avenue was called 'Elgin's Fashionable Street' by a local newspaper in 1884, as many movers and shakers resided there,” Co-Chair Mike Zimmer said. Four of this year's houses are along Douglas, with the other three on nearby stretches of Spring Street and Brook Street.

Many expensive houses in that area were erected in the 1880s and 1890s, as Elgin's watch and dairy industries spread the city's fame throughout the country and brought thousands of new residents.

Co-Chair Jen Fukala noted, not all the tour houses date back to that “Gold Coast” era. The oldest one on the tour — at 1045 N. Spring — was built in 1883 by a former Civil War colonel who worked for David C. Cook Publishing Co. And, for the first time, the tour will include houses built as recently as the 1950s — a Colonial Revival-style house built in 1951 at 1013 Douglas Ave. and a Mid-Century Modern-style one built in 1956 at 905 Brook St.

Thirty-seven years have passed since the GPA held the first house tour in 1981, so a house built in 1956 is now as old and “historic” as a house built in 1919 was for the first tour.

Zimmer has created a new website dedicated to the tour (www.historicelginhousetour.com) that offers much information about the tour houses, the neighborhood and the mission of the tour.

For the first time, a Young Preservationist ticket will be available for just $10 for people ages 18 and under (versus $20 for adults and $15 for seniors for tickets bought in advance, and $5 more than that for adult and senior tickets bought on Tour Day).

“Many people have told us that they would have liked to bring their whole family along, but it would be just too expensive,” Fukala said. “This will make it more affordable to bring along children, though we really recommend the tour only for children at least 8 or 10 years old.”

Fukala said another new feature will be a History Dinner, aimed especially at the many people who come to Elgin for the tour from outlying towns and would like to learn more about the city's past. For an additional $30, a limited number of tour-goers can buy tickets to a dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Elgin Public House in downtown Elgin. That dinner will include a presentation by Daily Herald history columnist Jerry Turnquist about “The Elgin Brand: Notable People From Elgin.”

Boy Scouts will sell soft drinks and light refreshments at a food court.

Local historian Rebecca Hunter will lead a walking tour and talk about “The Intricacies of Victorian Architecture” twice each day, starting at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the tour's food court.

“Being the featured neighborhood on the 2018 Historic Elgin House creates excitement for our neighborhood's newer residents and sparks a renewed pride in those residents who have lived here long-term,” said Eric Larsen, president of the Northeast Neighborhood Association. “The tour provides an opportunity for people unfamiliar with the Northeast Neighborhood to see firsthand that this is a great place to live.”

Pat Segel, a retired human resources director, said last year she and her husband had been living in Elmhurst when someone suggested they attend the 2000 Elgin house tour. They were so impressed by the historic houses, they bought one near Division and Gifford streets that had been built in 1903, had fallen into disrepair, and had been taken over and restored by the GPA.

“We've been here 17 years now and we love it,” Segel said.

GPA spokesman Paul Bednar said that since 1981, the tours have featured more than 235 houses and 40 public, commercial and religious buildings. By rotating the sites, the Elgin Historic House Tour has helped foster neighborhood pride and supported neighborhood groups other than the Gifford Park Association.

“One goal of the tour is to show that houses which have fallen on hard times can be rehabilitated into beautiful homes. It will also demonstrate that traditional architecture can be compatible with today's lifestyles,” Bednar said.

Proceeds from the tour are “recycled” into the community. Bednar said the GPA donates to other not-for-profit organizations, supports youth groups, supports architectural rehabilitation and has added historic signs to the public rights of way.

Historic Elgin House Tour

<b>When:</b> 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8-9

<b>Where:</b> Check-in at Sherman Hospital East Side Campus, 901 Center St., Elgin

<b>Cost:</b> $20 adult bought in advance; $25 adult day of tour; $15 senior (age 65 and older) in advance; $20 senior day of tour; $10 for Young Preservationists age 18 and under; $30 extra for history dinner/lecture at Elgin Public House.

<b>Tickets:</b> Available on the day of tour at Sherman Hospital East Side Campus. Available in advance at <a href="http://www.HistoricElginHouseTour.com">www.HistoricElginHouseTour.com</a>; Al's Cafe & Creamery, 43 DuPage Court; Elgin History Museum, 3609 Park St.; Ziegler's Ace Hardware, 1158 Lillian St. and 215 N. Spring St.; and Jewel-Osco, 1660 Larkin Ave. and 1040 Summit St.

Details: <a href="http://www.HistoricElginHouseTour.com ">www.HistoricElginHouseTour.com </a>or Facebook.com/ElginHistoricHouseTour

<b>Featured houses</b>

• 832 Douglas Ave.: Built in 1906, prominent Elgin architects Postle and Mahler created a house brimming with stylistic touches. The house is an excellent example of the Shingle-style with a side-gabled gambrel roof and Colonial Revival details.

• 1045 N. Spring: Constructed in 1884, this house features the half-timbered sub-type of the popular Queen Anne-style. This wonderfully preserved house is a delight inside and out with heavy turned porch posts and wood details throughout.

• 1013 N. Douglas Ave.: Built in 1951, this Colonial Revival-style house is one of the popular designs of American architecture. It was recently updated with a new kitchen and baths, making it as modern as today but with the tradition and eloquence loved by homeowners for two centuries.

• 905 Brook Street: The overall design of this 1956 beauty draws inspiration from the ranch and Prairie-styles. The architectural details inside and out are a great representation on clean and fresh new look of the fabulous '50s.

• 903 Douglas: This eye-catching hipped roof Queen Anne delights all passers-by from its position at Douglas and Slade avenues. Decorative wood detailing above the second-floor windows on the front elevation add to other stylistic elements, such as the ornamental piece in the pediment above the beautiful full-width porch.

• 1028 Spring: This house was once owned by D.A. McKenzie, who was the business manager for the Daily News and The Courier newspapers. The Arts & Crafts inspired Craftsman bungalow will enjoy its first year on tour and is replete with features, such as exposed rafter tails, decorative window trim.

• 802 Douglas: This large, beautiful house is an excellent example of the High Victorian Queen Anne style. It was originally built in 1894 for famed Elgin grocery store owner August Scheele and his wife Martha, and continues to exhibit many high-style features including curved glass windows in the prominent turret.