147-year-old Libertyville home expected to receive landmark status

As a girl decades ago, Martina Cook visited with her uncle, Robert Lueck, on the classic front porch of his old Victorian-style home at 210 Lake St., within sight of downtown Libertyville.

Lueck lived there with his parents, Edwin and Lenora, in 1940. The family wasn't the first to live there, but until recently, Lueck was the last.

In his later years, as Lueck was sick and under the care of a guardian, the home on the prominent corner of Lake Street and Brainerd Avenue fell into disrepair.

But Cook, who grew up in Mundelein, remembered the long-ago holiday gatherings and other visits.

"I really did love the house all this time," she said. "We had a couple of talks, my uncle and I, because he was concerned what would happen with the house."

Now, after extensive remodeling with an eye to the past, the home has been reviewed and accepted as a local landmark, becoming the first residential structure in Libertyville to receive the designation.

The village board needs to make it official, but that's regarded as a formality.

"When I first saw work was going to be done on this property, I can't tell you how happy that made me. I worried about it," Katherine Hamilton Smith, a member of the village's historic preservation commission, said during a review of Cook's local landmark application.

The revival of the circa 1874 Victorian Free Classic style home began after Cook and her husband bought the house from Lueck's estate.

"The house still has very good bones," Cook said. "Most of the original house we didn't have to touch too much. I tried to keep it everything as original as possible."

New plumbing and electricity were installed and an addition built to add a bedroom and other features, including a three-car garage.

Original hardware was refinished, and a custom door maker rebuilt the front door exactly as it was originally. An old manual doorbell was put back in use.

New exterior siding retained the historic 4-inch-wide reveal. Chicago brick was used to tie an addition to the old foundation. The throwback trim and molding was continued throughout the interior. Fixtures were reclaimed.

"This house had been very much in my life," Cook said. "My first passion is to keep it alive."

She also wanted to know its history and in early December 2019 began the process for local landmark designation.

The designation means the property or structure possesses integrity of design, workmanship, materials, location, setting or character, said Chris Sandine, associate village planner.

Along the way, Cook learned there had been six other owners, including Mary and Frank Just, who lived there in the 1920s. Frank Just was a journeyman printer who founded the local Independent Register newspaper and branched out to other local media.

He also served as a village trustee and then village president from 1903 to 1905. Mary Just was active in various local activities and helped found the Libertyville Woman's Club.

Cook moved in last summer and has become used to people stopping to take pictures.

"We get people all the time when were sitting on the porch. They say, 'Good job,' " Cook said.