{"nrhp_refnum":"79000835","name":"Clayson, George, House","other_names":["Palatine Historical Society Headquarters"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"224 E. Palatine Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palatine","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.11077049000005,"lon":-88.03833555399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-03-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Second Empire style house at 224 East Palatine Road in Palatine, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1873 by George H. Clayson and now used as the Palatine Historical Society headquarters and a public museum.","why_significant":"The house is a Midwestern adaptation of French Second Empire design with Greek, Italian and Victorian details, and it is the only house of its type located in the Palatine area. It is one of 23 documented houses in Palatine at least 100 years old, and the only one publicly owned and open to the public. It is also associated with George Clayson, a prominent local citizen and orchardist.","narrative":"Built in 1873 by George H. Clayson, this Second Empire house at 224 East Palatine Road in Palatine, Illinois, reflects a Midwestern take on French design. It has a mansard roof with round-headed dormers, bracketed cornices and ornamented porches, with details drawn from pattern books of the period. Its builder was probably a local master carpenter. Clayson, a village trustee, ran a large orchard on the property, and later owners, including the Wolff family, kept the house into the 1940s. The Palatine Public Library bought it in 1975 so the Palatine Historical Society could restore it as a museum. It is the only house of its type found in the area and one of 23 documented Palatine houses over a century old. It is the only one of those owned by a public body and open to visitors. Restoration targets the 1890-1900 period, and the work is being documented for educational use.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Probably a local master carpenter working from pattern books; no individual named","architectural_style":"Second Empire (Midwestern adaptation with eclectic Greek, Italian and Victorian details)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Structurally sound and in good condition; undergoing restoration (begun October 1977) and partially open to the public by October 1978, used as a museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.653488-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/92/8919/28891992/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000835.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000835/3bddd5db42-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000835/3bddd5db42-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G LeTourneau","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Clayson_House_(Palatine,_IL)_01.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">G LeTourneau</a>, <a href=\"http://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:George_Clayson_House_(Palatine,_IL)_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891992","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clayson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5537959"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/clayson-george-house-79000835/"}