40 N. GIFFORD STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
In the annual report on new homes built in Elgin, the Elgin Daily News in 1903 noted that C.E. Botsford constructed two homes near the corner of Gifford and Division streets for the cost of $5,000. In June of 1905, the lot containing 40 N. Gifford was sold to Arthur Crothers for $4,200.
Arthur Crothers was a dentist whose office was in the 200 block of National Street near the Watch Factory. The Crothers family sold the house in 1918, after 13 years of ownership.
A number of various owners follow the 1918 sale, eventually falling into foreclosure before being purchased by the Gifford Park Association in 1997. A restoration project followed, completed in 2001.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
40 N. Gifford Street is an example of the Shingle style. The Shingle style borrows from three styles: Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Richardsonian Romanesque. The Shingle style was popular in the latter end of the 19th century and features the use of shingles as wall cladding to provide a smooth surface on an irregular shape. This home has Queen Anne elements of a wide porch, shingle and clapboard wall cladding, and asymmetrical shapes, and clearly exhibits some Colonial Revival elements through the classic columns on the front porch and simple decoration over the front porch steps. The house is distinguished by the emphasis on decoration at the second and third stories, especially in the gambrel gable on the north side of the home.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 2001 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud