Historic Homes Tour to uncover Sycamore’s ‘hidden gems’

The History Center is still in need of volunteers to serve as tour guides. Each volunteer receives a free ticket for the event. Volunteer training will be at the History Center at 10 a.m. Oct. 21. For more information, to purchase tickets or to volunteer, visit dekalbcountyhistory.org or call 815-895-5762.

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County History Center will present its annual Historic Homes Tour during this year’s Sycamore Pumpkin Festival, featuring the theme “Hidden Gems.”

The tour will include historic homes that are off the beaten path and haven’t been featured before, organizers said in a news release.

The tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. Tickets cost $20 per person and are available at the DeKalb County History Center, 1730 N. Main St., at Made Just For You Gifts, 338 W. State St., or at any of the featured houses on the day of the tour. For the first time, online tickets can be purchased at www.dekalbcountyhistory.org.

The tour offers seven locations, including six homes with unique histories and the History Center itself at 1730 N. Main St. in Sycamore.

824 Meadow Lane

First up is the home at 824 Meadow Lane, known as the O House, one of Sycamore’s “Alphabet Houses.” Built in 1959, the house is one of six homes in this subdivision built by Theodore Niewold in the Usonian style, inspired by the school of Frank Lloyd Wright.

This home is built around a six-sided design with a beautiful copper and brick fireplace as the central feature. It has outdoor decks on both levels and striking light fixtures throughout.

Of note, it was owned for many years by the Bassing family who owned the Sip ‘N Dip restaurant in Sycamore. They used the basement of the home as storage space for the business and installed a conveyor belt from the basement to the carport to transport supplies easily. It is still there, and it still works.

417 Charles St., old South School

Next is the old South School at 417 Charles St. Built in 1898, it is one of four original Sycamore elementary schools: North, South, East and West. Of these schools, only two are still intact: East and South, both private residences.

Many classes of Sycamore children passed through its walls, as witnessed by the original slate chalk board uncovered in the wall of the current dining room during the latest renovation. It also served as the first location for Opportunity House from 1963 until 1967. The current owners have added many family educational items and pictures, in keeping with its schoolhouse past. And it was last owned by the Lloyd family of Genoa – the landscapers – so don’t miss the gardens.

120 Mason Court

The next neighborhood is the quaint Victorian one-way street, Mason Court. Two homes are featured, both built in 1905 by Arthur Root on land from the original Horatio Mason farm. Mason’s own home was on West State Street, a busy thoroughfare even then. He decided he did not want to live on such a busy street, so he had his home moved down the alleyway to found this neighborhood.

The house at 120 Mason Court is a thoroughly comfortable family home with some surprising modern adaptations while retaining much of the original woodwork and some of the windows. Walter Loomis was the first owner and the planner who developed the neighborhood and hired Root to build these lovely homes. This home is special because it is where Loomis lived after he married Miss Fanny Mason, daughter of Horatio Mason himself. Touches of what the house looked like then are still present today. Of course, the pool in the back is not original, but it’s still an inviting place to cool off on a hot summer’s day.

121 Mason Court

121 Mason Court is the location of perhaps one of the most original, well-preserved homes we have seen in Sycamore. The beautiful, never-been-painted woodwork and inlaid floors harken to the day when the Sycamore True Republican printed on Sept. 20, 1905, “The dwellings are of handsome and varied architecture outside and conveniently arranged inside.” Although once divided into two apartments, it has been beautifully restored to a single-family home. And the pocket doors still work.

530 S. Main St.

The tour continues at “Land’s End,” 612 S. Main St., and the home across the street at 530 S. Main St. These are two of the oldest homes in Sycamore, both built at the very end of the town in the mid-1850s.

The home at 530 S. Main St. has had numerous owners and many additions since its humble beginning as a three-room house. It does have the original funeral door arrangement in the front. What is striking about this house, however, is the care and cleverness with which the current owners have restored and added on to this house in the 30 years they have owned it. The front room’s hidden shelves, the kitchen spice cabinet and hidden office area and the clever upstairs kids’ room and loft show ingenuity and craftmanship rarely seen even on HGTV.

612 S. Main St.

612 S. Main St. was the home of William Young, built for his brother Ellzey Young. William had a tragic life, losing a son in a terrible sawmill accident and even once was accused of being a Southern sympathizer. Ellzey, however, is well remembered as a founder of Sycamore, even laying out the courthouse square and helping with the building of the second courthouse in 1850.

This location was home to many other illustrious residents, including a doctor and a well-known judge. It also was home to Sherret Chase, one of the main engineers of DeKalb Ag, responsible for many of the patents for hybrid seed corn varieties. Chase once famously brought Eleanor Roosevelt through a blizzard to a speaking engagement at Sycamore High School, a harrowing night captured in his own words in journals held at the Joiner History Room.

The home’s current owners are undertaking restoration, having inherited all this history as well as some questionable wallpaper. Their upstairs efforts actually uncovered a quite interesting hidden closet-within-a-closet, inspiring much speculation. They have also done some major work on the outside, clearing the creek and rebuilding the pergola, making a lovely outdoor living space.

The last stop is 1730 N. Main St. in Sycamore, current home to the DeKalb County History Center, previously known as Stark’s Corner then Engh Corners. This property was a large, prosperous farm for most of its history. First owned by Marshal Stark, an important member of the local farming community, the small house dates to the farm’s early days and later served as a residence for hired hands. It was eventually used as rental property. The larger house was renovated into the colonial structure you see today by longtime owner Harold Engh as a home for his farm managers.

As part of the tour, ticket holders can view the History Center, opened in 2019, and its current exhibit: “The History of DeKalb County in 100 Objects.” Visitors also can view plans for the future of the center’s campus, displayed in its own hidden gem, the historic corn crib.