{"nrhp_refnum":"06000445","name":"Durham-Perry Farmstead","other_names":["Perry Farm"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"459 N. Kennedy Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bourbonnais","county":"Kankakee County","state":"IL","lat":41.14936126100008,"lon":-87.87624820699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2.5-acre farmstead district at 459 North Kennedy Drive in Bourbonnais, Kankakee County, Illinois, with a frame I-house begun around 1840, two timber-frame barns from about 1838-1845, and several smaller outbuildings. It sits on the northeastern corner of Perry Farm Park.","why_significant":"The farmstead is tied to early settlement of the Bourbonnais area, first through Thomas Durham and then through his son-in-law David Perry, who owned it from 1854 to 1887. The house shows several phases of change, and its timber framing illustrates early construction methods. The barns and outbuildings survive as part of a working farm complex.","narrative":"Perry Farm is a small farm complex in Bourbonnais, Illinois, now part of a 169-acre park. The nominated 2.5 acres hold a frame farmhouse begun around 1840 as a traditional two-story I-house, along with a Three-Bay English threshing barn and a horse barn dating to roughly 1838-1845. A 1940s garage, a well house and two concrete troughs also contribute, while a milk house, a storage building and a shed do not. Thomas Durham settled the farm and may have run a tavern for travelers on the nearby Hubbard Trace. After his death in 1854, his son-in-law David Perry, a carpenter and stonemason, bought the property and remodeled the house, adding a vestibule and new stairway. A fire in 1939 destroyed the roof and prompted further changes. The hand-hewn timber framing and surviving woodwork document early building practices. The house now serves as park district offices and an interpretive center.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"David Perry (carpenter and stonemason) remodeled the house after 1854; original builder not stated.","architectural_style":"Other: I-House; Three-Bay Barn; Horse Barn; Garage","criteria":[],"status_note":"Currently used as park district offices and an interpretive center; the house was altered after a 1939 fire and again after 1990.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.13415-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/32/8932/28893232/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06000445.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000445/6702cbf8f0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000445/6702cbf8f0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Durham-Perry_Farmstead.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Durham-Perry_Farmstead.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893232","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham%E2%80%93Perry_Farmstead","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16992147"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kankakee-county/durham-perry-farmstead-06000445/"}