The Union House, also known as the John Bower House, is a small, mostly

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

house in downtown Orangeville,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The house, the first brick home in Orangeville, was built in 1849 by village founder John Bower. It was purchased by Samuel Hutchins in 1885 and it remained in the Hutchins family until 1951. The house blends elements of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Gothic Revival architecture and is the only example of Gothic Revival found in the village of Orangeville. The house was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2000.

History

The Union House was the first

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

house in Orangeville and erected by village founder John Bower. Bower came to

Stephenson County Stephenson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 44,630. Its county seat is Freeport. Stephenson County is included in the Freeport, IL Micropolitan Statis ...

in 1844 and, on October 16, 1846, bought the land that would be platted as Orangeville from John H. Curtis for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

950. Bowers built the Union House in 1849 on a portion of what eventually became Orangeville in 1851. By 1885 Dr. Samuel Hutchins, and his wife Amanda, owned the Union House and used it as a home and a medical office for Hutchins early in his career. William Hutchins inherited the home and lived in it until he died in 1926. His sister Katherine Hutchins took ownership of the building following William's death. When Katherine died in 1944 her mother Linda inherited the house and it was deeded to Robert and Florence Shafer in 1951. The Shafers in turn sold it to Val and Opel Schreiner. The Schreiner's owned the house when it was nominated to the U.S.

in 2000.Buford, John C.
Union House
" (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 29 November 1999, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 9 October 2007.

Architecture

The Union House utilizes a combination of

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

and

styles. The Greek Revival influence is found in the doorway, which matches almost exactly the description put forth by Virginia and Lee McAlester in their 1984 book, ''A Field Guide to American Houses''. The McAlester description for Greek Revival doorways mentions, elaborate door surrounds flanked by decorative glass

sidelight A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a window, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent to doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary", ...

s and topped by

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

s, and ornate wood or masonry encasements surrounding the door.McAlester, Virginia & Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York: 1984, p. 180, 197, (). The Union House features these characteristics, though does not feature the recessed doorway the McAlesters call "not uncommonly" found in Greek Revival doorways. Besides the front entrance, the house is cast in the Gothic Revival style, popularized in the

through various publications from the late 1830s–1850s. The Union House matches descriptions put forth by McAlester as well as in the Galena Historic Preservation Guidebook. McAlester describes decorative

bargeboard A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pr ...

s, steeply pitched

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, and cross gables, with windows usually extending into the gables; all elements which are present on the Union House. The pointed arch windows described by McAlester are not present on the Union House. The Union House is of the centered gable variety described by McAlester. The Galena guidebook also describes steeply pitched roofs, cross gables and decorative bargeboarding. The original decorative bargeboarding on the Union House remains in place.

Significance

The Union House, along with being the first brick house built in Orangeville, is the only example of Gothic Revival architecture found in the village. It is important locally because it was constructed by the village founder, John Bower. The house is also a good example of the crossover from Greek to Gothic Revival and blends elements from both style. The house's local significance, combined with its architectural importance qualified it for listing on the U.S.

on May 11, 2000.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1849 Houses in Stephenson County, Illinois Orangeville, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Stephenson County, Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1849 establishments in Illinois

History

Architecture

Significance

See also

References