Ora Pelton House, historic house in Illinois, United States
The Ora Pelton House is a three-story residence in Elgin, Illinois, built in 1889 in the Stick-Eastlake style and situated on a small parcel with a stone foundation. The house has a rectangular form with porch columns and a second-floor balcony featuring Eastlake patterns, and inside displays an oak staircase in the foyer topped with a glass window and a Czech-style chandelier, along with different wood types in each room.
The house was designed in 1889 by local architect Gilbert M. Turnbull for Dr. Ora Pelton, a physician and surgeon, reflecting the Victorian style favored by wealthy families in the area. A single-story addition was made in the 1920s, the house remained with the Pelton family until 1955 when the Izzo family took ownership, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The house was built for Dr. Ora Pelton, a respected doctor and surgeon, and shows how a prosperous family lived in this wealthy area near the Fox River. The rooms with different types of wood - oak in the hall, birch in the parlors, sycamore in the dining room - reveal how much the residents valued craftsmanship and thoughtful details.
The house is located in Elgin and can be viewed from the outside; a former carriage house from 1890 also stands on the property and shows the infrastructure wealthy families had at the time. The surrounding neighborhood is quiet and marked by similarly aged houses, making for a good walk to explore the area and its history.
The foyer features a remarkable oak staircase with a glass window that lets light pour through, and beneath it hangs a Czech-style chandelier that casts a warm glow over the stairwell. This combination of staircase design and lighting is a detail many visitors overlook, but it shows the care taken in the original design.
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