{"nrhp_refnum":"83000331","name":"Scott, Matthew T., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"227 1st Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chenoa","county":"McLean County","state":"IL","lat":40.73913366700003,"lon":-88.72810853499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-part frame house at 227 1st Avenue in Chenoa, McLean County, Illinois. The rear section was built in 1855 as a post-and-beam cottage and the front section in 1863 as a balloon-frame, five-window I-house.","why_significant":"The house is significant for agriculture because it was the center of Matthew T. Scott's work from 1855 to 1870 in opening prairie land to farming and founding Chenoa. It is significant for architecture as the best preserved example in the county of a vernacular house evolving into a more formal type. It is also linked to Adlai Stevenson I and the Vrooman brothers.","narrative":"Built in two stages, this house in Chenoa, Illinois, pairs a post-and-beam cottage from 1855 with a balloon-frame, five-window I-house added in 1863. A narrow gap between the two parts preserves the original facade of the rear section. The front has a central hall, plaster ceiling medallions, a transomed doorway with sidelights and a pedimented gable with a lunette vent. The house is considered unusually well preserved, since similar county houses have lost porches, windows and trim. It was also the center of Matthew T. Scott's agricultural enterprise. Scott platted Chenoa in 1855, broke thousands of acres of prairie, recruited settlers and tried new tenant lease arrangements. Adlai Stevenson I married here, and his son Lewis Green Stevenson was born here in 1868. Later the Vrooman brothers lived in the house. A restoration following rehabilitation standards was under way when it was listed.","period_of_significance":"1855, 1863 (specific dates given; 1800-1899 period checked)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Central-hallway I-house (five-window house) combining a vernacular rear section with a Georgian-influenced front section","criteria":[],"status_note":"Deterioration is being remedied by a two-phase restoration. Structural problems have been corrected and work on facades, windows and doors was under way. The form checks occupied, museum use and work in progress.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.541859-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/8936/28893650/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/83000331.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000331/8072bc2032-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000331/8072bc2032-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"See above","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chenoa_Il_Scott_House1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">See above</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chenoa_Il_Scott_House1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893650","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_T._Scott_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6791300"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mclean-county/scott-matthew-t-house-83000331/"}