{"nrhp_refnum":"77000488","name":"Shiloh House","other_names":["Residence of Founder of City of Zion"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1300 Shiloh Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Zion","county":"Lake County","state":"IL","lat":42.450575773000025,"lon":-87.82729130199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Shiloh House is a three-and-one-half-storey Swiss chalet style residence at 1300 Shiloh Boulevard in Zion, Lake County, Illinois, built in 1902-3 for Zion's founder, John Alexander Dowie.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is the major surviving monument to Dowie's short-lived Christian community at Zion. It is also noted as an expensive, high-quality residential design in a mixed Queen Anne and chalet style. Its original furniture and turn-of-the-century interiors add to its value.","narrative":"Built in 1902-3 at a cost of $90,000, Shiloh House at 1300 Shiloh Boulevard was the Zion residence of John Alexander Dowie, founder of the Christian community at Zion. Architect Paul Burkhardt, born and educated in Switzerland, designed it as a Swiss chalet with 25 rooms, five bathrooms, quartersawed oak woodwork and a full basement. Dowie died in the house in 1907, after the city fell into bankruptcy. Later it served as a boarding house, a private home and a Bible institute dormitory, then declined until the Zion Historical Society bought it in 1967. The society reroofed it, restored its tile pattern and interiors, and returned original Dowie furniture. It is valued as the major monument to Dowie's short-lived foundation and as a fine example of mixed Queen Anne and chalet design. Tours run on summer weekends.","period_of_significance":"1902-3","architect_builder":"Paul Burkhardt (architect)","architectural_style":"Swiss chalet; mixed Queen Anne and chalet style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the local historical society, in good condition, restored and open for tours on summer weekends; a caretaker lives in the servants' quarters.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.625174-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/8933/28893358/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/77000488.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000488/672c1c018c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000488/672c1c018c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shiloh_House_in_Zion.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shiloh_House_in_Zion.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893358","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiloh_House_(Zion,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65054429"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lake-county/shiloh-house-77000488/"}