{"nrhp_refnum":"11000845","name":"Ahrens, Henry, House","other_names":["Divan--Wojnar House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"212 E. University Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Champaign","county":"Champaign County","state":"IL","lat":39.87693031500004,"lon":-88.23133386999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-11-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half-story Queen Anne style frame house at 212 East University Avenue in Champaign, Illinois, designed in 1893 by local architect Seely Brown, with a carriage barn and wrought-iron fence.","why_significant":"The house is described as a quintessential Queen Anne residence with intact exterior detail and original Lincrusta-Walton interior decoration. It was built by saloon owner and German immigrant Henry Ahrens and is the last single-family, owner-occupied house on a street once lined with homes. The excerpt does not show the criteria or period of significance.","narrative":"Built in 1893 on the east edge of downtown Champaign, this two-and-one-half-story Queen Anne house was designed by local architect and contractor Seely Brown for Henry Ahrens. Ahrens was a German-born former sailor and Civil War navy veteran who ran a saloon and wholesale liquor business in Champaign. The frame house has a limestone foundation, clapboard walls, slate and wood-shingle roofs, varied decorative shingling, a wrap-around porch and stained-glass windows. Inside, original Lincrusta-Walton wall and ceiling decoration, pine woodwork, and a carved fireplace mantel survive. A carriage barn, a wrought-iron fence, a stone hitching post and a carriage step also remain on the lot. The house is now the last single-family, owner-occupied dwelling along East University Avenue, a busy commercial street once lined with residences. The house, barn and fence are all in excellent condition and retain a high degree of integrity. The Ahrens and Divan families owned it for generations.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Seely Brown (architect and contractor)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian-Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition with a high degree of integrity; still used as a single-family dwelling with a carriage house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.05019-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/8918/28891806/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/11000845.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000845/b6d9fec9fc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000845/b6d9fec9fc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Esvobod2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Ahrens_House_Corner_View.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Esvobod2</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:Henry_Ahrens_House_Corner_View.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891806","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ahrens_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20710277"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/champaign-county/ahrens-henry-house-11000845/"}