{"nrhp_refnum":"79003164","name":"Duncan Manor","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Towanda off IL 4","address_restricted":false,"city":"Towanda","county":"McLean County","state":"IL","lat":40.56962552300007,"lon":-88.91050568899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick Italianate farmhouse on a low hill southwest of Towanda, McLean County, Illinois, overlooking the railroad between Bloomington and Chicago. It was built around 1866 by William R. Duncan.","why_significant":"The house is considered unique in design among the many large brick farmhouses built in McLean County in the 1860s and 1870s. It was also the home of William R. Duncan, who helped introduce high-quality blooded livestock, especially shorthorn cattle, into the county. It was included in John Drury's Old Illinois Houses solely for its architecture.","narrative":"Duncan Manor is a large brick Italianate farmhouse built around 1866 on a low hill southwest of Towanda, overlooking the railroad between Bloomington and Chicago. Two massive three-story towers with bracketed pyramidal roofs dominate the northwest front, and round-capped windows, white-painted wooden porches and projecting brackets define the exterior. Inside, four major rooms on the first and second floors surround a central hall with a three-story curved wooden staircase. The house is recognized for its unusual design among the many big brick farmhouses of 1860s and 1870s McLean County. It also reflects the career of builder William R. Duncan, a Kentucky breeder who moved to Illinois in 1863 and bought the land in 1865. His shorthorn cattle, including the prize bull Minister, drew wide attention, and an 1879 county history credited him with introducing fine breeds. After his death in 1876, his son-in-law continued the business, and the farm remained one of central Illinois's best-known stock farms until the mid-1880s.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1866","architect_builder":"William R. Duncan","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good; the form describes a large brick house with a complete basement and finished tower rooms on the third floor.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.560178-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/8936/28893648/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79003164.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003164/1a57d31531-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003164/1a57d31531-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Greerje at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duncan_Manor.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Greerje at en.wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duncan_Manor.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893648","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Manor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5314483"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mclean-county/duncan-manor-79003164/"}