{"nrhp_refnum":"79000861","name":"Voorhies Castle","other_names":["Nels Larson House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Bement","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bement","county":"Piatt County","state":"IL","lat":39.86675736600006,"lon":-88.58021770699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, fourteen-room Victorian mansion known as Voorhies Castle (Nels Larson House), located about four miles south of Bement in Piatt County, Illinois. Begun in 1900 and completed in 1904, it was built for Swedish immigrant Nels Larson.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the castle is significant for its unusual architecture on the Illinois prairie, which blends Queen Anne features with Swedish-inspired elements such as symmetry, stenciled gable ends and wrought iron ornament. It is also valued as an expression of an immigrant's initiative and as a local landmark. Its ornate interior, including carved fireplaces, a parquet floor and Tiffany stained glass, adds to its importance.","narrative":"Voorhies Castle is a fourteen-room, two-story Victorian mansion standing on the prairie about four miles south of Bement, Illinois. Swedish immigrant Nels Larson began it in 1900 and finished it in 1904 at a cost of over $9,000, working from plans drawn by Chicago architect William H. Schroeder. Larson modeled it on a manor house he remembered from Christianstadt, Sweden. The design draws on the Queen Anne style but is nearly symmetrical, with round corner turrets, double-gabled sides stenciled with Swedish patterns, and wrought iron ornaments on the roof ridges. Inside are three carved fireplaces made by a Swedish craftsman, a parquet dining room floor of several woods, and Tiffany stained glass. Larson also built a large clock-tower barn, later destroyed by a tornado in 1976. The castle stood empty from 1914 to 1972 and suffered vandalism. It became a central Illinois landmark and a symbol of an immigrant's success.","period_of_significance":"1900","architect_builder":"William H. Schroeder","architectural_style":"Victorian, most closely associated with Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied from 1914 until 1972 and damaged by weathering and vandalism; the new owners pledged restoration and removed remaining details for safekeeping. The companion clock-tower barn was destroyed by a tornado in 1976.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.849433-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/8938/28893882/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000861.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000861/2ada9bd9aa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000861/2ada9bd9aa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Esvobod2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voorhies_Castle_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:Voorhies_Castle_Corner_View.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893882","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voorhies_Castle","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14688164"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/piatt-county/voorhies-castle-79000861/"}