{"nrhp_refnum":"74000765","name":"Millikin, James, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"125 N. Pine St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Decatur","county":"Macon County","state":"IL","lat":39.841924035000034,"lon":-88.96708369299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-12-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A towered Victorian mansion at 125 North Pine Street in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, built in 1876 for banker James Millikin, together with its brick carriage house and grounds.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the most prominent and best-crafted Victorian mansions in Illinois, combining Italianate and French Second Empire elements. It is tied to James Millikin, a banker and philanthropist who founded Millikin University. It later served as an art center and an influenza hospital, and it adjoins Millikin Place, a private street with Prairie School houses.","narrative":"Built in 1876 at Pine and Main Streets in Decatur, this red brick mansion was the home of James Millikin, reputedly the wealthiest man in Macon County. Millikin came to Decatur in 1856, opened a bank in 1860 and later helped found Millikin University. The house is a towered Italianate residence with a high mansard roof borrowed from the French Second Empire style, and its irregular plan centers on a hall with a fireplace and a grand staircase. Interior details include carved marble fireplaces, mosaic hearths, art glass in a copper-covered stair bay and a ceiling fresco. The architect is unknown. A carriage house with horse stalls still stands nearby. After the Millikins, the house served for about half a century as an art center and sheltered influenza patients in 1918 and 1919. The nomination also links it to adjoining Millikin Place, which has three Prairie School houses of about 1909 to 1910 and landscape design by Walter Burley Griffin.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1876)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate with French Second Empire mansard tower; Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and unaltered on its original site; the building was unoccupied, with preservation work in progress, and was a potential residence for the Millikin University president.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.575934-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/8934/28893495/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/74000765.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000765/de1c22ff7a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000765/de1c22ff7a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Millikin_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Millikin_House.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"76000719","name":"Decatur Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/decatur-historic-district-76000719/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893495","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Millikin_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17194307"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/macon-county/millikin-james-house-74000765/"}