{"nrhp_refnum":"92001017","name":"Wheeler-Magnus Round Barn","other_names":["Old Magnus Farm Round Barn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"811 E. Central Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington Heights","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.06478953900006,"lon":-87.97195299699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A round barn of about 50 feet in diameter and 46 feet high, built circa 1910 as the main working barn of a forty-acre farm at 811 East Central Road, Arlington Heights, Cook County, Illinois. It now sits on the grounds of a retirement community.","why_significant":"The barn is argued to meet Criteria A and C as an example of a building type showing scientific principles applied to agriculture, probably influenced by University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station promotion of round barns. It also shows occasional deviations from those principles, such as the lack of a center silo and horse stalls with wood planks set in concrete. It is the only remaining building from the original farm and retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"This round barn in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was built around 1910 as the primary working barn of a forty-acre farm. It measures about 50 feet across and 46 feet high, with a hip roof, conical cupola, concrete foundation and wood drop siding. A floating purlin roof system gives the loft a clear span with no obstructions. Inside, the concrete floor is shaped for cattle feeding, and one third of the barn was set aside for dairy cattle and one third for horses, whose stall areas have wood planks set into the concrete. The farm was probably associated with Elbert Bartlett Wheeler, a farmer and civil engineer, and was later sold to Dr. A. B. Magnus, who turned it into a sanatorium and then a nursing home. The barn is the only surviving original farm building and now stands among retirement community buildings. It was listed for its link to scientific agricultural ideas promoted in Illinois and for its largely intact design.","period_of_significance":"c.1910","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"OTHER/round barn","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently used for storage; the owner intends to restore or rehabilitate it. The roof is in poor condition and some loft flooring is badly deteriorated.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.252313-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/8908/28890835/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/92001017.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001017/de5aee439b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001017/de5aee439b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G LeTourneau","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wheeler-Magnus_Round_Barn_(Arlington_Heights,_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:Wheeler-Magnus_Round_Barn_(Arlington_Heights,_IL)_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28890835","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler-Magnus_Round_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7992185"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/wheeler-magnus-round-barn-92001017/"}