{"nrhp_refnum":"98000459","name":"Franks, Charles, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"34431 US 52","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lanark","county":"Carroll County","state":"IL","lat":42.06321921000006,"lon":-89.69756566299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-one-half story brick house built about 1850 on an 8.13 acre farm site near Lanark in Carroll County, Illinois, with a pre-Civil War bank barn and three modern outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is an excellent local example of a mid-nineteenth century rural house drawing on the earlier Federal style, with a low-pitched hipped roof, symmetrical plan and jack arches. It is remarkably intact and retains a high degree of integrity. The site is also notable for its earlier association with pioneer Isaac Chambers, the old Galena Road and the Black Hawk War.","narrative":"Built about 1850 for Charles Franks, this one-and-one-half story brick farmhouse sits on a knoll beside U.S. Highway 52 near Lanark, Illinois. Its low-pitched hipped roof, balanced five-bay front with Flemish bond brickwork, four tall chimneys and jack arch lintels make it a late, vernacular version of the Federal style, unusual in an area where Greek Revival houses are more common. Inside, the original walnut doors, moldings, beaded doors, fireplaces and most floors and plaster survive. A pre-Civil War bank barn of hand-hewn timbers is also counted as contributing. The site was earlier home to Isaac Chambers' stagecoach tavern on the old Galena Road, which figured in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Franks, an English-born emigre who bought the property in 1845, built the house, laid out the village of Brookville and built the area's first schoolhouse. The house was long mistaken for the tavern itself, but it was built later.","period_of_significance":"c. 1850","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; vernacular version of the Federal style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, in its original location, with minimal restoration; repairs were made after 1985, and the house remains a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.576808-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/8917/28891766/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/98000459.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000459/aec710545a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000459/aec710545a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Frank%27s_House.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Boscophotos</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Image_Frank%27s_House.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891766","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Franks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20709724"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/carroll-county/franks-charles-house-98000459/"}