{"nrhp_refnum":"95000989","name":"Hegeler-Carus Mansion","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1307 Seventh St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"La Salle","county":"LaSalle County","state":"IL","lat":41.335981211000046,"lon":-89.08714710499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-08-09","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2007-03-29","areas_of_significance":["Philosophy","Religion","Communications","Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A seven-level, fifty-seven-room Second Empire mansion at 1307 Seventh Street, La Salle, Illinois, built in 1874-76 and designed by Chicago architect W. W. Boyington for Edward and Camilla Hegeler, on a three-acre landscaped site with a Prairie style garage.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the mansion as one of the finest surviving works of architect William W. Boyington, with exceptional interior and exterior integrity and original finishes, stenciling, fixtures and furnishings. It was also the home and base of the Open Court Publishing Company, founded by Edward Hegeler and continued by Paul Carus. Hegeler's zinc-smelting innovations at the nearby Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company form part of the wider story.","narrative":"Built between 1874 and 1876 in La Salle, Illinois, this seven-level Second Empire residence was designed by Chicago architect William W. Boyington for zinc manufacturer Edward Hegeler and his wife Camilla. Its fifty-seven rooms fill about 16,000 square feet and sit on three landscaped acres near the family's zinc works. Features include a mansard roof, a wraparound piazza, a horseshoe staircase, and a cupola rising ninety feet. Inside are thirteen-foot ceilings, parquet floors unique to each room, carved woodwork, and painted decoration by August Fiedler. The ground floor housed the Open Court Publishing Company, which Hegeler founded and his son-in-law Paul Carus continued, and which operated from the house from 1887 to 1936. Descendants of the Hegelers lived here until 2004, which helps explain why original finishes, fixtures and furnishings survive. The house is now a museum and is undergoing a multi-year restoration. It is valued as a rare, well-preserved Boyington design.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William W. Boyington (architect); August Fiedler (interior designer); William Le Baron Jenney (conservatory and built-in bookcase)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied by Hegeler descendants until 2004; now a museum undergoing a multi-year certified restoration.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.557528-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/8916/28891617/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/95000989_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000989/7222bd1cd5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000989/7222bd1cd5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hegeler-Carus_Mansion_(8765254143).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hegeler-Carus_Mansion_(8765254143).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891617","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegeler_Carus_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5698377"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lasalle-county/hegeler-carus-mansion-95000989/"}