Photos of buildings in Geneva's Historic District.
213 South Fifth
Chrichton House, built in 1893 in the Stick/Queen Anne Style.
Details include diagonal wood siding and a sunburst panel, spindle porch posts, a large
dormer on the front elevation and an asymmetrical facade.
318 South Fifth
Hoyt House, built in 1906 by the Wilson Brothers, local
builders, and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Prairie Style. The house has common
Prairie style characteristics, including wide eaves, a low-pitched roof, a broad, low
chimney, and a wood panel design that creates a horizontality.
128 North First
Clark-Eddowes House, built around 1848 or earlier by Samuel
Nye Clark of Geneva’s early "Boston Colony." The brick house is in the
Greek Revival style. The house is 2-1/2 stories, with an architrave, frieze, stone lintels
and sills, and a deep gable cornice. Originally there were no porch, west addition or bay
on north side. Rev. Timothy Eddowes was a Unitarian minister who lived there with his
widowed sister, Emma Eddowes Beebe, and conducted a private school for boys before the
turn of the century. This house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical
Society in 1948.
416 South First
Augustus Herrington House, constructed in 1851 by J. C.
Herrington in the Italianate Villa style. Augustus Herrington was a prominent lawyer and
son of James and Charity Herrington, Geneva’s founding family. This house was
presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical Society in 1954.
208 South First
Eben Conant House, constructed in 1844 out of locally
quarried limestone which is referred to as "riverstone." A simple, symmetrical
1-1/2 story house with flush stone sills and lintels, a single central chimney and cornice
returns on the gable ends. The entrance is on the side. Originally part of a complex which
included a storage building and the Augustus Conant House (1842) which was moved to 18
Campbell Street in the 1920s. This house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva
Historical Society in 1964.
301 South First
Walter House, constructed c. 1855 of local riverstone by John
Rudolph Schmoldt in the Classical Revival style. The gable front vernacular was a common
house type from the early 19th century into the 20th century. This
house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical Society in 1981.
315 Ford
This frame house was constructed in 1888 with a front-facing
gable and a bracketed cornice with returns.
319 Ford
DeGrout House was constructed in 1856 by Lyman Bixby in the
Greek Revival style. The house has a two-story temple form center with full pediment
flanked by symmetrical one-story wings. Each wing includes a porch with square pillars and
simple capitals. This house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical Society
in 1976.
521 Ford
This simple frame house was constructed in the early 1920s
with clapboard siding and decorative fishscale shingles in the front gable end.
202 North Fourth
August Wilson House, constructed in 1916 by August Wilson in
the Prairie-Four Square style. August and his brother Oscar were local builders who
studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. The Wilson brothers constructed numerous
houses and commercial buildings in the Geneva Historic District.
500 Fulton
Dodson House, constructed in 1873 for Mr. & Mrs. Charles
Dodson. Charles was the eldest son of Christian B. and Harriet Dodson, early settlers of
Geneva who are credited with naming the town Geneva. The house is an example of the
Italianate style, with vertical windows, bracketed eaves, and intricately carved braces on
the clustered porch posts.
522 Fulton
c. 1900 Queen Anne, pointed recessed arch with shingles in
front and side gables,
416 Hamilton
Westgarth-Crary House, constructed in 1849 of local
riverstone by George Westgarth, a local stone mason. The vernacular house was bought by
Elias Crary in 1854. The house is two stories, with bargeboard on bracketed eaves, carved
stone panels set under first floor windows, a low, hipped roof and three chimneys. This
house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical Society in 1973.
127 James
Geneva Public Library, constructed in 1908. This stone
building was built from a Carnegie grant and has Prairie Style influences. Elements
include low-pitched over hanging eaves, half-timbering in the gable ends, and a large
stone chimney. The library has several contemporary additions which compliment the
original building.
527 James
Constructed in the 1890s, this house is a simple example of
the Stick Style, with stick detailing in the trussed gables and porch. Other detailing
includes spindle porch posts, wood window and door surrounds, and a decorative shingle
pattern in the gable end.
118 South River Lane
McKinley House, constructed in 1843. This early Geneva home
is constructed of local riverstone and is a vernacular gable-front and wing, a building
type common only in the northeastern and midwestern states. There are stone lintels and
sills on the windows. This house was presented with a plaque by the Geneva Historical
Society in 1969.
120 North Second
This brick home was constructed in 1931 in the Tudor Revival
style. Elements of the style include a high-pitched gabled roof and front gable, with
elaborated stone chimney on the main facade.
11-13 South Second
Originally home of Benjamin Boyce. This late 19th
century commercial building is constructed of riverstone with its main façade of brick.
The majority of the windows have stone lintels and sills, while the second floor windows
on the main façade have arched pressed metal window hoods. The main façade also has a
pressed metal cornice and semi-circular arched pediment with a finial on the peak.
102 South Second
Unitarian Church, constructed in 1843 in the
Neo-Classical/Greek Revival style. It is the oldest church in Geneva. It is constructed of
local riverstone and stucco. The building was extended to five bays, the belfry was added,
and the double doors were installed in 1855. In 1874 the vestibule was added and the
balcony removed. In 1879, the pews and stained glass were donated by Mr. and Mrs. W.D.
Turner. An addition was added in 1956. This house was presented with a plaque by the
Geneva Historical Society in 1955.
228 South Second
Scott-Alexander House, constructed in 1853. This frame house
is vernacular with Greek Revival elements. This house was presented with a plaque by the
Geneva Historical Society in 1956.
127 South Second
Joshel House, constructed in 1916 by the Wilson Brothers,
local builders who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. This brick foursquare has
Prairie Style influences, such as the low over-hanging eaves on the roof, porch and
dormer, the windows at the eave line, and a horizontality to the house. The house was
built for Mayer A. Joshel, who was a prominent businessman in coal and grain, and was also
the mayor of Geneva in the early 19th century.
328 South Second
Isaac Wilson House, constructed in 1876 of frame
construction. The basic form of the house is Italianate, a box with hipped roof. Applied
to the house are architectural and decorative elements which derive from the uniquely
American Stick Style. Window and door hoods have Eastlake ornament traits. There are small
brackets and a horizontal band which wraps around the middle of the house. The porch is
given great prominence in this house, and the porch pillars and braces contain all the
elements which point forward to more completely developed Stick Style homes of the 1880s
and 1890s in Geneva.
217 North Third
This frame house was constructed by John Rogers in 1876. The
clapboard house is vernacular in style, with simple decorative wood sills and hoods. A
broad, brick chimney includes bands of corbeled brickwork.
220 South Third
Charles B. Wells House, constructed in 1850 in the Greek
Revival, is one of Geneva’s most distinguished structures. It is built in the form of
a temple, two and one-half stories, with a full Doric portico and four engaged pilasters.
It has a full gable pediment over a high entablature, and the architrave and frieze are
separated by a line of fine dentil molding. A local Geneva carpenter channeled the Doric
columns. The original frame siding was covered with stucco about the turn of the century.
The Wells House was purchased by Dr. Raymond Scott in 1891 and established Colonial
Hospital, which remained in the house until 1925. In 1952, the house was converted for
commercial use.
328 South Third
Loveday House, constructed in 1869 for Chicago lawyer Charles
W.F. Smith. Smith sold the house to William Loveday in 1870 for $5,000. This frame
building is designed in the Gothic Revival style and conforms to the ideal of the
Picturesque Movement. The house includes several projecting wings, a high roof interrupted
by dormers, gable ends decorated with trefoil-shaped vents, and round-ended bargeboard
with applied zig-zag molding and open carved leaf designs. This house was presented with a
plaque by the Geneva Historical Society in 1972.
100 S. Third
Kane County Courthouse, constructed in 1892. This red brick,
limestone, and iron frame building was designed by architects Edbrooke and Burnham and is
neo-Romanesque in spirit but not detail. The courthouse is medieval in its massiveness and
permanence, but 19th century in its high, square dome, it smooth brick face,
and in the variety of its window courses. The structure is masonry wall construction
reinforced with iron beams and the load-bearing walls are more than a foot thick. A
variety of materials are included in the building, including red brick, red sandstone,
chocolate brick, cut stone, terra cotta, structural and decorative iron work, marble,
tile, red oak, white pine, Douglas fir, slate and tin. It replaced the previous riverstone
courthouse which burned in 1890.
119 W. State
This wood-frame vernacular commercial structure dates to the
late 19th century and includes a wood parapet with brackets.
121-123 W. State
Yates Building, constructed of local riverstone in 1848, is
one of the earliest commercial buildings remaining in Geneva. This house was presented
with a plaque by the Geneva Historical Society in 1950.
202-06 W. State
Community Block, constructed c. 1885. This ornate commercial
building has a stamped metal false front covering the second floor, including the cornice,
pilasters, window caps and sills, and ornamental finials. The core of the building
possibly dates to the early 1870s, with the two street facades being updated around 1885
to their present condition.
201 W. State
The commercial brick building was constructed in the early 20th
century. The building includes stone detailing, stone acroterion, or ornament, at the
corners and a decorative frieze on the parapet.
205 W. State
Gaunt and Field Bank (Central Market), constructed c. 1880.
This brick commercial structure includes vertical arched windows on the second floor,
decorative brick banding, and a decorative metal cornice. The Gaunt and Field bank was
later absorbed into the State Bank of Geneva.
207 W. State
The Payne Block, constructed in 1915. This
brick commercial structure includes a limestone band course with stone brackets and a
brick parapet with stone cap.
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