Tours show off historical mansion, restored

Visitors to Naper Settlement will get a chance to peek back in time Sunday to catch a glimpse of when the city was still a young, sprightly 52 years old.

Guides are offering a "grand tour" of the Martin Mitchell Mansion from 1 to 3:15 p.m. at the 19th-century living-history museum at 523 S. Webster St., Naperville. The tour will be repeated on Feb. 23.

The mansion was built in 1883 and then underwent a major restoration that began in 2000 and was completed three years later.

Sunday's tour will begin in the lower level of Naper Settlement's Pre-Emption House, where an exhibit called "Brushstrokes" recalls the city's past with paintings and artifacts.

"It gives people an understanding of the time frame and what Naperville would have looked like way back when, when the mansion (first) existed," the settlement's Nancy Smith said.

Next, tourists will visit the tavern on the Pre-Emption House's ground floor, where they'll see and hear a presentation about the restoration process.

Debbie Grinnell, the settlement's director of preservation services, headed the restoration effort, a $2.8 million project that included work on the interior and exterior of the mansion and the adjacent carriage house.

"We wanted to preserve the house. We wanted to preserve it in a way so that any decisions we made were as reversible as possible. We wanted to accurately depict the house as it was lived in by the family, to really tell their story," Grinnell said.

Grinnell said George Martin, his wife, Sibelia, and three of their four children moved into the house in 1883. One of the children, Caroline, later lived in the mansion with her husband, Edward Mitchell. This lineage explains the origin of the building's name, the Martin Mitchell Mansion. Caroline, who died in 1936, bequeathed the mansion and surrounding property to the city, Grinnell said.

Exterior work, Grinnell said, included restoring the building's windows, porch, masonry and roof.

"George Martin did not use a face-brick," Grinnell said. "He used what's called a common brick."

Bricks were coated with a parge, a type of mortar that was defined with a black bead line, she said, to retain the bricked appearance.

"Trying to replicate that accurately was a very detailed process," Grinnell said.

On the inside, paint and wallpaper were restored, and the mansion's mechanical and electrical systems were upgraded. Attention also was given to getting the furniture, the light fixtures, the floor treatments and the window treatments just right.

Smith said the tour will be led by two of the museum educators who were heavily involved in the restoration effort.

"It really is the crown jewel of the settlement," Smith said. "We like to show it off whenever we get a chance."

If you go

What: Grand Tour of the Martin Mitchell Mansion

Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville

When: 1 to 3:15 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 23

Cost: $10 for non-members, $9 for members; registration required by today

Info: (630) 420-6010 or napersettlement.museum