{"nrhp_refnum":"07000477","name":"Coonley, Avery, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1400 Maple Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Downers Grove","county":"DuPage County","state":"IL","lat":41.78892913400006,"lon":-88.01967286999638,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-08-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A private school complex of brick, stucco and tile buildings arranged around a central courtyard at 1400 Maple Avenue, Downers Grove, DuPage County, Illinois. The original three wings date from 1928-1929 and were designed by Waldron Faulkner, with later additions.","why_significant":"The nomination cites the school's Prairie School design, which also shows Arts & Crafts influence, and its extensive Moravian tile decoration. It also credits the school's role in progressive education and its association with Queene Ferry Coonley, who guided the design. The landscape was originally laid out by Jens Jensen, and the nomination notes that most of his work is still intact.","narrative":"Avery Coonley School occupies a 10.45-acre site in Downers Grove, set against the Maple Grove Forest Preserve. Its first three two-story wings, built in 1928-1929 to designs by Waldron Faulkner of Washington, D.C., form a U around a courtyard and are linked by a cloister rather than interior corridors. Red brick, partly painted white, hipped roofs, strong chimneys and large casement windows give it a Prairie School character, while handmade Moravian tiles and a homelike scale reflect Arts & Crafts influence. Every classroom has its own outside entrance and a view into the woods. Jens Jensen laid out the grounds with pools, a children's garden and native plantings, and much of his work survives. Queene Ferry Coonley, who had a long association with Prairie School architects, had final say on design decisions. The complex was recognized for its architecture, its approach to education and its landscape. Later additions have extended it to the north and east, and it continues as a school.","period_of_significance":"1928-1957","architect_builder":"Faulkner, Waldron; Hamilton, Fellows & Nedved; Jensen, Jens","architectural_style":"Prairie School","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a school; the original wings are largely intact, with later additions from 1979-1980, 1992-1993 and 2005-2006.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.385384-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8927/28892774/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/07000477.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000477/80c29c06a6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000477/80c29c06a6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avery_Coonley_School_(5978115291).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avery_Coonley_School_(5978115291).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892774","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Coonley_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7715034"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/dupage-county/coonley-avery-school-07000477/"}