8455 W Grand Ave
River Grove, IL 60171, USA

Dorhmann-Buckman House (8455 West Grand Avenue) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Dohrmann-Buckman House is locally significant in the area of architecture. It meets National Register Criterion "C" as a good representative example of a front-gabled house with Italianate details in River Grove. A period of significance is 1875 to ca. 1909, has been established to encompass the period during which the house was initially built, two later additions constructed (ca. 1891 and ca. 1909), and the sole remaining outbuilding, a 1 1/2 story wooden barn was built (ca. 1895). The later additions to the house are virtually intact and do not detract from the design of the original Italianate house. Both the additions and the barn contribute to the property as they convey the function of the residential property during the time the Buckman family owned the house.

History of the Property
Until the early years of the 19th century, the inhabitants of the area now called River Grove, Illinois were the Potawatomi Tribe of native Americans. 3 In 1816, the Treaty of St. Louis ceded to the U.S. Government a strip of land 20 miles wide centered on the DesPiaines River, extending from the mouth of the Chicago River to the Fox and Kankakee Rivers near Ottawa, Illinois. The purpose of this ceded strip was to ultimately construct a canal from the Chicago River to the DesPiaines and Illinois Rivers, and led to the development of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The north and south borders of this land were surveyed by the federal government and were marked as the so-called "Indian Boundary Lines."4 River Grove is located where the north Indian Boundary Line crosses the DesPiaines River. This border is visible today in the form of a diagonal street by that name in River Grove.

In 1833, after the defeat of the Indians in the Black Hawk War, all Native American Tribes were forced to cede all land east of the Mississippi to the U.S. Government. In Illinois, the Tribes were given three years to leave their homelands.5 As a provision of the treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, Indians who were previously friendly to the settlers were granted "annuities" (yearly payments) and land in the form of reservations. Two reservations make up the bulk of historic River Grove, that of Alexander Robinson (Che Che Pinqua), and Claude LaFramboise. Both of these large reservations were located north of the Indian Boundary Line. Portions of the LaFramboise reservation were gradually sold over the succeeding years to settlers.6 This is the area that soon was to become the Village of River Grove.

Shortly after the final treaty with the native Americans, waves of immigrants began to arrive in the Midwest, many from Ireland and Germany. Between 1848 and 1854, 3/4 million Germans came to America due to the unsettled conditions and economic uncertainty which followed the revolution in Germany. Most of these Germans were farmers and many desired to settle in the fertile fields near the DesPiaines River west of Chicago. The Leyden Township census of 1880 indicated a population which was 80% of German origin.

One of those early German settlers was Andrew Christian Schmidt, who came from Prussia with his wife, bought a large tract of land and set up a butcher shop on Grand Avenue in what is now River Grove.8 The lot on which the Dohrmann-Buckman House stands was part of the Schmidt estate, purchased by Frederick Dohrmann in 1874. 9 Around 1875, the first phase of the present house was constructed on the site and sold in 1877 to Heinrich Dohrmann.10 The population of the pioneer community at that time was only about 200. In 1890, Schmidt's granddaughter, Bertha Senf, married Henry Buckman, a carpenter. According to Henry's daughter, Esther, the house was given to Henry and Bertha by Bertha's grandparents as a wedding gift. Attached are historic photographs of Henry and Bertha Buckman (Attachment #5).

Henry Buckman was very active in the community. His sister Sophia was married to Paul Lau, who was elected as the first mayor of River Grove after it was incorporated in 1888. The Laus owned the house on the lot immediately north of the Dohrmann Buckman House. Although this house no longer exists, photographic evidence shows that it was similar in style to the Dohrmann-Buckman house. An aerial view taken in 1949 shows both houses and what appears to be a well-worn path between them (see Attachment #3). In addition to his duties as mayor of the new village, Paul Lau was a successful businessman who owned extensive greenhouses on his property (see Attachment #4 for plan of these greenhouses) and supplied the Chicago retail florist Bloom & Company. He also undoubtedly assisted Henry Buckman in his political career. Buckman was elected to the post of Village Clerk for a great number of years "which office he filled creditably and faithfully, always actuated by the spirit of progressive policy."11 In 1894, he was elected as the first fire chief of the village.12 He also served as the Leyden Township Clerk.

The property has remained in the Buckman family for some 100 years, passing first to Henry's son Harry in 1941 and then to Henry's daughter Esther (Buckman) Weber in 1957. Esther is now 86 years old and currently resides in River Forest, Illinois. In 1992, she deeded the house to the Village of River Grove to be ultimately used as a museum depicting life in the early settlement years of the Village. The Village has maintained the property and has begun a process of repair and restoration in preparation to opening it to the public. During the summer of 1994, asphalt and damaged wood shingle roofs were removed and a new wood shingle roof was installed matching the historic shingle spacing, over the original roof sheathing. In addition, the Joliet limestone rubble stone foundation was carefully tuckpointed to prolong its functionality.

The Architecture of the Dohrmann-Buckman House
The Dohrmann -Buckman House is a good example of a front gabled house with ltalianate details built in the rural areas of the new western settlements surrounding Chicago in the third quarter of the 19th century. Exterior elements are nearly all intact or easily repairable. Only the original front porch ornamental trim seems to have been removed. Windows, glazing and doors are all original. The setting for the house is undisturbed, and includes a repairable historic barn which is shown on the Sanborn map of 1895 (Attachment #4).

The interiors are virtually unaltered, with the exception of the insertion of a gas fired forced air heating system, and contemporary bathroom which are easily reversable. Room layout and finishes are unchanged since the 19th century. Interior ornamental moldings are intact, as is the interior stair railing and decorative newel post.

Italianate Residential Architecture
The Italianate style was very popular in the United States in the era between 1850-1880, particularly in the midwest, as well as the northeast and west. Many of the early frame houses in San Francisco exhibited this style. The style is not often found in the southern part of the country since there was not much new construction in the south during this era due to the Civil War and the 1870's depression.

Beginning in England, as an element of the picturesque movement, the Italianate style was characterized by rambling Italian farmhouse forms with square towers. In the midwestern part of the United States, Italianate dwellings often were patterned after picturesque informal rural examples, and were adapted in a style which exhibited only a few of the characteristics of the Italian precedents. Another form of the Italianate in the U.S. was the Italian Renaissance townhouse. These were usually rectangular, masonry, 3 story buildings with few decorative embellishments except for window pediments.

Andrew Jackson Downing's pattern books were responsible for fostering the style's popularity.15 Most of the examples which survive today were built in the era between 1855 to 1880. The financial panic of 1873 and the resulting depression have been noted as the cause for the demise of the ltalianate style. As the economic picture brightened in the late 1870's, residential architecture turned to other styles such as the Queen Anne for inspiration.

Stylistic Characteristics
Italianate houses were usually 2 stories high with low pitched roofs and widely overhanging eaves. The eaves were generally supported by decorative wood brackets. Windows were usually tall and narrow, often with segmental or full arched tops. Windows frequently had decorative hood molds, particularly on full or segmental arched shapes. The Dohrmann-Buckman House front second story windows are segmental arched and have heavy head moldings. Flat topped windows are also crowned with prominent moldings.

Porches are quite common in the Italianate style with restrained detailing and of one story height. While small entry porches were common, so were full width porches. The porch posts were usually square and beveled.

Doorways were either paired or single with large pane glazing in the doors. Doorways are similar in shape to the windows with crowns or lintels similar to those found on the windows.

Interior stairway of the Dohrmann: -:Buckman House has an Italianate style newel post. Basically there were six principal subtypes of the Italianate style: the simple hipped roof (most common subtype), centered gable (usually with projecting center pavilion), asymmetrical (compound plan, generally L-shaped without tower), towered, front gabled roof (the Dohrmann-Buckman House is an example of this subtype), and townhouse.

Italianate Houses in the Chicago and River Grove areas
The Dohrmann~Buckman House compares favorably with other examples of the Italianate house type built about the same time in Chicago and closer areas. In Chicago, the house built at 215 West Eugenie in 1874, exhibits many of the same characteristics (Attachment #8).16 Contemporary examples closer to River Grove include the Charles A. Wilmeroth house in River Forest, built ca. 1878 (Attachment #8).17 This house likely had a front porch which is missing now. In Oak Park, the John Carne house, ca. 1870, is also similar, but with more decorative details.18 The Jennie S. Thompkins house, 503 North 4th Avenue in Maywood, Illinois, 1872, on the National Register, is nearly identical to the Dohrmann-Buckman House, even including a closely related interior stair railing and newel post.

In the village of River Grove, there are several related examples which have been badly altered subsequent to their construction. The house at 8441 West Center Street is the same size and configuration as the Dohrmann Buckman House. It retains its decorative front porch, but the exterior has been sided with vinyl siding and the foundation has been replaced with glazed clay tile block. Many of the earliest houses built in River Grove have had their foundation replaced in recent times. A close examination of the foundations in the historic center of the village reveals that there has been extensive water damage, likely caused by the periodic flooding of the DesPiaines River, most recently in 1987, and by rising damp from a high-water table. The Dohrman T-Buckman House has not suffered as much as other early homes closer to the river, and retains its original rubble stone foundation. The house at 8450 West Center Street is another contemporary example. It has a coursed Joliet stone foundation, but has been sided and its front porch has been enclosed. The house at 8551 West Center Street has been sided with aluminum siding and its historic foundation replaced with molded concrete block foundation, but it still has its original ornamental barge boards. Finally, the Italianate house at 8519 West Center Street is of the period but is one of the few existing L-shaped plan examples of the style. Its exterior has been sided and the stone foundation has been painted to conceal severe weathering.

The Dohrmann-Buckman House is stylistically similar to other early River Grove buildings no longer standing but known through photographs. The Charles 0. Streetz store and post office was built in the 1850's is stylistically similar to the Dohrmann-Buckman House (see Attachment #9). This store existed in River Grove at least until 1938.19 The school house for the village was built in 1869, and, although only one story tall, is related in architectural chapter to the Dohrmann-Buckman House by its form, materials, roof pitch and window design (Attachment #9).

In conclusion, within the context of the front gabled Italianate houses which were so prevalent in the Chicago and western settlements in the 1870s, the Dohrmann-Buckman House remains the premier representative example in River Grove.