Historic Naperville mansion demolished
The Hammerschmidt mansion in Naperville has been demolished.
The former home of prominent DuPage County businessman Adolph Hammerschmidt was leveled Friday morning after attempts to make it a historic landmark failed.
The Queen Anne mansion at 432 E. Chicago Ave. was built in 1893 but had fallen into a state of disrepair.
Chris and Sue Cobb purchased the home in December 2007 for $775,000 but found the cost to rehabilitate it higher than anticipated and tried unsuccessfully to sell it.
Neighbors attempted to save it by petitioning the city for landmark status but were ultimately denied by city councilmen who said it would be unfair to force such a status on the home's owners.
"It was unfortunate that a home that appears to have been valued by so many people was allowed to evolve into the state that it was in," said Kevin Lynch, attorney for the Cobbs. "On a personal (level), I would like to see efforts made to preserve what is preservable going forward, but it should be done on a basis of encouragement and with cooperation of homeowners."
The Cobbs plan to landscape the lot and use it as additional yard space for their home next door.
Photographs and architectural drawings of the mansion will be preserved at Naper Settlement.
Special thanks to Naperville Community Televison.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=9&type=video&item=293">Clips of demolition, mansion (courtesy of Naperville Community Television</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>