Gurler House
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George H. Gurler House
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The 1857 Gurler House in DeKalb, Illinois.
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| Location | 205 Pine St., De Kalb, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 41°56′00″N 88°45′02″W / 41.93333°N 88.75056°WCoordinates: 41°56′00″N 88°45′02″W / 41.93333°N 88.75056°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1857 |
| Architect | Unknown, possibly Jacob Haish |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 79003158 |
| Added to NRHP | March 21, 1979 |
The George H. Gurler House or simply, the Gurler House, is a home in the DeKalb County, Illinois city of DeKalb. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places to which it was added in 1979. The home was built in 1857 and was occupied by members of George H. Gurler's extended family as early as 1888. Gurler was the co-founder of the Gurler Brothers Creamery. Gurler was also the president of the DeKalb County Farmer's Institute, the predecessor of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The Gurler House was constructed in the Greek Revival style of architecture.
The Gurler House is estimated to have been constructed in 1857; however, county records are not available for that time period. A sign in the front yard of the Gurler House lists it as 1857, and the Gurler Heritage Association celebrated the sesquicentennial of the house in 2007. In approximately 1857, a local banker, Ellzey Young, had the home built for himself and his new bride, Alida Ellwood. Alida was the younger sister of barbed wire baron Isaac Ellwood (http://www.ellwoodhouse.org/). George Gurler would not purchase the home until years later. There are conflicting reports on the original owners of the property. One assertion is that Wyman constructed the home and sold it to the Gurlers, which was also stated by Beatrice "Bea" Gurler in an interview with the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb. However, according to the property abstract this is simply not true.
According to that document the Gurler House, as it eventually would become known, began its history as a 80-acre (32 ha) tract of land sold by the U.S. government to Steven S. Jones on April 13, 1844. Jones was a resident of Kane County. It is possible that Jones was a land speculator who gathered up pieces of property scattered across northeast Illinois. The 1878 collection "Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois," described Jones as a St. Charles attorney born on July 23, 1813 in Barry, Vermont. He moved to Illinois in June 1838 with his wife Lavinia where he has been credited with naming St. Charles.
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