{"nrhp_refnum":"85000361","name":"Healy Chapel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"332 W. Downer Pl.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aurora","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.75928570100007,"lon":-88.32314529199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-02-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story funeral home and chapel at 332 West Downer Place in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, designed by George Grant Elmslie and completed in 1927-28 for the Healy Undertaking Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a later work of Prairie School architect George Grant Elmslie and a rare commercial application of the style, blending commercial and residential Prairie School forms. It is also one of five Elmslie buildings in Aurora. Its significance in commerce rests on the Healy Undertaking Company, a long-running family firm and an early Illinois business to build a chapel designed for funerals.","narrative":"Healy Chapel is a funeral home at 332 West Downer Place in Aurora, Illinois, completed in 1927-28 to designs by Chicago architect George Grant Elmslie. The three-story main wing combines orange roman brick with a beige stucco upper floor that held apartments, while ornate glazed terracotta bands emphasize the horizontal lines typical of the Prairie School. A lower chapel wing has a steeper hipped slate roof, a wall of stained glass in the west, and carved black walnut screens inside. Elmslie also designed the light fixtures, window casements and stair railings, most of which survive. The building is notable as a commercial work in a style mostly used for houses, and as one of five Elmslie buildings in Aurora. It also represents the Healy Undertaking Company, founded in 1891, which was among the first in Illinois to have a chapel built expressly for funerals. A later addition altered the garden area, but the major exterior elevations remain intact.","period_of_significance":"1927","architect_builder":"George Grant Elmslie","architectural_style":"Prairie School","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in excellent condition; the main wing houses business offices and family residences, and a one-story addition replaced the original garden area.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.081954-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/8931/28893144/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/85000361.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000361/2f8132c12b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000361/2f8132c12b-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Healy_Chapel.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Healy_Chapel.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86001484","name":"West Side Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/west-side-historic-district-86001484/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healy_Chapel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5691456"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/healy-chapel-85000361/"}