832 DOUGLAS AVENUE
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
832 Douglas Avenue was built in 1906 for prominent Elgin attorney, Thomas Stillwell Huntley the II. Thomas Huntley the II was the son of Thomas Huntley Sr. who was born around 1807 in New York and came to the area in 1846 where he founded the town of Huntley in McHenry County. Huntley Sr. lived in Huntley the rest of his life until his death in May of 1885.
Thomas Huntley the II was born in Huntley on October 17, 1877. He attended Beloit Academy in Wisconsin and received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1900. Quickly thereafter, he opened his own practice in Elgin in 1901 and in 1903 married Gertrude B. Kennedy of Grand Marais, Michigan.
The couple had a daughter who passed away at age 5 in 1920 and a son, Thomas the III who was 18 at the time of his father’s untimely death in 1924. Huntley’s wife and son remained in the home until her death in 1955. The home was inherited to their son who sold the property in 1972.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Designed by the noted Elgin architectural firm of Postle and Mahler, 832 Douglas Avenue was built by Elgin’s best-known builder of the time, Henry Jensen.
The primary style of this house is Dutch Colonial Revival which enjoyed popularity from 1880 until 1955. The style derives from homes built by settles from the Netherlands. Only about 10 percent of Colonial Revival homes display the gambrel roof. The prominent gables on this home are reminiscent of the large Victorian Shingle style homes with gable roofs, however, the symmetry of the design is more typical of Colonial homes. Other Colonial Revival details found on this home include the half round porch columns, the half-moon window on the south elevation, the many-paned front gable windows and the gabled dormers on the east of which were often used by the architect, David Postle in his designs.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 2017 Heritage Plaque Application; Gifford Park Association; Audio: TextAloud