{"nrhp_refnum":"04000070","name":"Phi Delta Theta Fraternity House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"309 E. Chalmers St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Champaign","county":"Champaign County","state":"IL","lat":40.10607842600007,"lon":-88.23410871599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story English Revival fraternity house at 309 East Chalmers Street in Champaign, Illinois, designed in 1922 by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw and built by English Brothers, with a rear addition made in 1966.","why_significant":"The house is a work of the noted Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, who adapted English architectural traditions for residential and collegiate buildings. It was described at the time as the most expensive and elaborate fraternity house built in Champaign, and The Architectural Forum featured it in 1924. It is also part of the multiple property listing for fraternity and sorority houses at the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois.","narrative":"Phi Delta Theta's chapter house at 309 East Chalmers Street in Champaign was designed in 1922 by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw and built by the local firm English Brothers. It sits west of the University of Illinois campus, facing north on a low rise. The two-and-one-half story building is faced in rough ashlar limestone with dressed Bedford stone window surrounds, casement windows, a steep slate roof with dormers, and a projecting entrance pavilion carrying the fraternity's carved coat of arms. Inside, a slate-floored foyer leads to a library and music room with a stone fireplace and heavy oak beams, and an open oak staircase serves the upper floors of two-room suites. A limestone addition at the rear in 1966 replaced the original open loggia as dining space. Contemporary accounts called it the most expensive and elaborate fraternity house in town, and The Architectural Forum praised it in 1924. Its quality and its link to Shaw support its listing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Howard Van Doren Shaw (architect); English Brothers (builder)","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: English Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a fraternity chapter house with student housing, dining and living spaces; a one-story rear addition was built in 1966 and most windows were replaced with vinyl-coated casements matching the original pattern.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.524285-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/8907/28890759/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/04000070.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000070/d6449d7b0e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000070/d6449d7b0e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Delta_Theta_uiuc.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Delta_Theta_uiuc.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28890759","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Delta_Theta_Fraternity_House_(Champaign,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20710404"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/champaign-county/phi-delta-theta-fraternity-house-04000070/"}