An historic five-bedroom, 2,519-square-foot Greek Revival-style house in Glen Ellyn that was built in 1847 and that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places sold on Dec. 14 for $548,000.
Built for early Glen Ellyn settler George Baker, the house has three bathrooms, two-foot-thick walls made up of six layers of brick, a stone foundation, a white painted brick and limestone exterior, a living room with a fireplace, an eat-in dining area, a second floor with nine-foot ceilings and a fully finished third floor with a large bonus room, along with a detached garage. In the latter half of the 1800s, Baker, who is the namesake of the Baker Hill area along Roosevelt Road, owned 392.5 acres extending from the DuPage River west to what now is Park Boulevard in south Glen Ellyn.
Baker died in 1873, and his family sold the house in 1892 to a family that allowed it to fall into disrepair, and at some point in the early 1900s, the house was used as a granary of sorts, according to a history of the home that was provided as part of the real estate listing. In 1942, then-Tribune book editor Frederic Babcock and his wife, Helen, bought the house with the intention of fixing it up, and their restoration included replacing the living room floor and installing new mechanicals, two new chimneys and a living room fireplace.
The Babcocks sold the house in 1946, and in the ensuing decades, the property became smaller as surrounding land was sold off for development. Today, the house sits on a 0.93-acre parcel. Sellers Gary and Marian Tomlinson bought the home in 1984 and successfully applied for it to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010
“The two-foot-thick walls…(make) the house naturally cool in the heat of the summer,” listing agent Penn French of Compass, who also is the chair of the Glen Ellyn Historic Preservation Commission, told Elite Street. “(And) not only is the handsome and solid construction of this 176-year-old home original, but so are the window panes and interior moldings and trim. In this way, the George Baker house retains its integrity and architectural dominance.”
French noted that the Tomlinsons’ restoration work included discovering original flooring under existing floors and stripping many years of old wallpapering in every room along with many layers of old paint. That revealed natural wood in many parts of the house, including the casements around the large windows. Other enhancements included updating electrical and plumbing throughout the house, replacing or updating all mechanical systems and updating the molding in the kitchen and bathrooms to period-appropriate designs. Outside, the Tomlinsons expanded the property’s vegetable and herb gardens.
The Tomlinsons sold the house because they have downsized, French said. So they placed the house for sale in June for $675,000, and they went under contract to sell it three months later. Public records do not yet identify the buyers, but French said the buyers are looking forward to preserving the home’s architectural integrity.
The house had a $10,399 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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