Tired from my recent trip, I return to Sycamore, Illinois, suffering from a severe case of Republican icon overload. Breathe, breathe, I’m back and I’ll calm down. Calmed by a perfect image of Italian style. At 705 DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore there is an example of Italian style at Adolphus W. Brower House.
The home featured an original scrolled porch, which was reflected in the enclosed porch of the rectangular bay on the east side of the home. The porch balustrade (wiki) has been modified sometime since the late 1970s. When the house was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, it was called a postcard-perfect example of the style upon approval, which It occurred on Valentine’s Day in 1979.
Adolphus W. Brower was, in his day, a fairly well-known hardware dealer in early Sycamore. I’m not sure if he had any particular relationship to prominent Sycamore attorney Floyd E. Brower, whose home was discussed in another related article I wrote. Unfortunately, the Adolphus Brower House National Register documentation is not yet available online at the time of this writing or I would have linked you to it.
Online resources for more information
* House of Adolphus W. Brower: Old Photos (NRHP Archive) – 1978
Tomorrow we will stay in the area and investigate examples of Prairie-style architecture in DeKalb County.
Sycamore, Illinois is a city of approximately 15,000 residents, located in DeKalb County, of which it is the county seat. Sycamore was established in 1835, mainly north of the Kishwaukee River.