Early Batavia home thrives through renovations, generations

One of the oldest homes in Batavia, built in 1880, is on the market for the first time since 1963 when the current owner's parents purchased it from the estate of a descendant of the original owner.

The Earl C. and Mary Newton home is located at 509 N. Batavia Ave. in the heart of the historic Fox Valley community that was founded in 1833, about 50 years before this home was built.

Earl Newton was vice president of the Newton Wagon Co., which was founded by his father. He was also a director of the First National Bank of Batavia and had an interest in the Redwood Lumber Co. of California. But apparently, Newton made most of his money from a cow tie he invented and manufactured on his property. It was used for tying cows into stalls for milking and was reportedly much more humane to the animal than the old-fashioned stanchions it replaced.

The Newtons built the home on about 39 acres along the Fox River. The home was originally built as a French-inspired, three-story Victorian Second Empire home, complete with three stories, a mansard roof made of “calamined metallic shingles,” a turret and wrought-iron ornamentation on the roof. It was constructed of St. Louis hydraulic pressed brick, which appears to have been made on-site during the construction process.

Elsewhere on the site there were horse and cow barns, a hennery, windmill, ice house, pig pen and tool room, according to an old, undated newspaper article, framed in the basement.

But in 1913, when the Newtons' daughter, Nellie Newton Selfridge, inherited the home, she chose to modernize it, transforming the exterior into a Craftsman style by removing the third floor ballroom and turret and replacing the mansard roof with a gable roof. She also half-timbered the second floor to achieve its current appearance. Inside, she removed the original central circular staircase.

Over the years, portions of the land were progressively sold, too, until now the home sits on only 1.3 acres.

Despite its 1913 changes, the home retains much of its original charm because it has been faithfully tended to over the years by the current owners, Mark and Cathy Cavins, as well as Mark's parents before that and by generations of the Newton family before that.

For instance, the original pine floors remain in many rooms, while in others they have been replaced with more modern hardwood floors. The original Batavia limestone foundation walls throughout the basement and the basement's limestone fireplace remain. Both are beautifully exposed in the recreation room that the current owners have created down there.

But some of the original interior basement walls have been removed to create the recreation room and the exposed basement rafters have been meticulously cleaned to remove years of coal dust residue from when the home was heated by coal. The original coal room and 12-square-foot cistern have been transformed into a full bath and a storage room, while a rickety old set of wooden stairs to a door leading outside from the basement have been replaced with limestone steps, using limestone salvaged from the removed walls.

The old wood, dirt and cement floors throughout the basement have been replaced with a poured concrete floor with radiant heat system.

On the main floor the home features a spacious, open floor plan that is totally unexpected in a home of this vintage. There is a first-floor bedroom suite that is currently being used as an office, as well as a huge dining room, updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances, a large butler's pantry/laundry room and charming breakfast room; a parlor and sitting room, both with fireplaces; a family room/den that was originally an unheated vegetable storage room; and even a sunroom on a converted porch.

Upstairs there is a huge master suite with bath and two large walk-in closets, a hall bath and two additional bedrooms, both of which have sitting rooms beside them.

Throughout the home there are remnants of its glorious past, including original light fixtures that have been converted from gas to electricity, front and rear staircases, gorgeous woodwork and crown molding, original fireplaces throughout, 11½-foot ceilings, exquisite decorative cast iron heat registers and a coffered ceiling in the dining room. The original claw foot tub is even preserved in the garden as a planter.

“This has been a great place to live and hold parties and family functions,” said Mark Cavins. “It has been the holiday gathering place for the Cavins family since my parents bought it from the estate of Earl Jacob Newton, a grandson, in 1963 when I was 16. We recently celebrated our 51st Christmas in this house.”

Mark is the oldest of seven children but he only lived in the home with his parents for a few high school years and then summers during college. His younger siblings spent much more time growing up in the home than he did — until the time when he and his wife bought it, he acknowledged.

When the Cavins bought the home from Mark's parents in 1985 they embarked on many updates such as the modernized kitchen with the faux tin ceiling, the enclosing of the porch and transformation of it into a sunroom, the addition of a two-and-a-half-car garage in the back, several bathroom renovations, the conversion of part of the pantry into a first-floor laundry room, the conversion of several fireplaces to gas, renovation of the basement and the addition of a brick patio, complete with a hot tub.

The 3,700-square-foot house (not counting the basement) is on the market for $629,000. It is being brokered by Patti Rambo of Miscella Real Estate of Geneva.

For more information, call (630) 399-1572 or visit www.miscella.com.