Weary from my recent journey I again return to Sycamore, Illinois suffering from severe a case of Republican-icon-overload. Breathe in, sigh, I am back and will be soothed. Soothed by picture perfect Italianate style. At 705 DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore is a high-style example of Italianate in the Adolphus W. Brower House.
The house featured an original scrollwork porch, which was reflected on the enclosed porch of the rectangular bay on the east side of the house. The porch balustrade (wiki) has been altered 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 its approval, which came on Valentine’s Day in 1979.
Adolphus W. Brower was, in his day, a rather well-known hardware merchant in early Sycamore. I am unsure whether he was any particular relation to the prominent Sycamore attorney Floyd E. Brower, whose home was discussed in another related article I authored. Unfortunately, the National Register documentation for the Adolphus Brower House is not yet available online at the time of writing this article or I would have linked you to it.
Online Resources For Further Information
*Adolphus W. Brower House: Old Photos (NRHP archive) – 1978
Tomorrow we stick around the area and investigate Prairie style architecture examples in the county of DeKalb.
Sycamore, Illinois is a city of approximately 15,000 residents, located in DeKalb County, of which it is the county seat. Sycamore was settled in 1835, primarily north of the Kishwaukee River.