The houses in the Sycamore Historic District, in Sycamore, Illinois, United States, cross a variety of architectural styles and span from the 1830s to the early 20th century. There are 187 contributing properties within the historic district, 75% of the districts buildings. Many of the homes are associated with early Sycamore residents, usually prominent business leaders or politicians. Houses within the district are known by, either their street address or by a name associated with a prominent owner or builder. For most of the houses, the latter is true.

Numbered Houses

A full 75% of the districts buildings are listed as contributing properties. Many of these include homes within the boundaries of the district that are architecturally or historically significant but are commonly known only by their street address.

Ottawa and Maple Streets Two of the districts contributing homes are found along Ottawa Street. Both homes are nameless and stand next door to each other, one is at 124 and the other is at 134. Along Maple Street the Italianate home at 202 is also listed as a contributing property, it is known only by its address.

Main and High Streets

The two-story Italianate home at 314 S. Main Street is another example of a contributing property in the Sycamore Historic District that is known only by its address. The house was constructed in 1878. At 512 S. Main St. is a brightly colored example of Queen Anne architecture. The only contributing property along the east-west High Street is the home at 418 W. High.

Somonauk Street The house at 312 Somonauk Street is an example of Italianate architecture, it is a nameless contributor to the district's historic nature. The Italianate home further down the same block, at 328, has undergone some exterior changes. Its original wood siding was replaced with vinyl. On the other side of the street, the house at 413 Somonauk is an example of the American Foursquare style of domestic architecture. Also in the 400 block of Somonauk, at 437 is another nameless contributing property.

Named Houses

Byers-Faissler House

The Byers-Faissler House is located in the 500 block of Sycamore's Somonauk Street, the house is included as a contributing structure to the historic character of the Sycamore Historic District. The house was built in 1867 for Sycamore politician William Byers. The home contains elements of both Gothic Revival and Italianate architecture. It is thought that the main gable once contained the same decorative elements as the smaller gable.

Byers eventually served two terms in the Illinois state legislature, though before he held that office he was active in DeKalb County politics. Byers' youngest daughter, Jane, married native German Johannes (John) Faissler. Faissler became a successful lawyer in Sycamore.Sycamore Historic District Informational Poster, on site, corner of Elm and Somonauk Streets, Sycamore, Illinois. Photograph on Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 18 February 2007

Captain R.A. Smith House

The Captain R.A. Smith House, also known as the F.W. Partridge House is another contributing property to the Sycamore Historic District. The house was built sometime before 1871 by Captain R.A. Smith.National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form , (PDF), Sycamore Historic District, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved January 29, 2007. The Smith House is designed in a Gothic Revival motif by R.A. Smith.Property Information Report, 230 S. Somonauk , HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency , Retrieved 18 February 2007.

Besides the military Smith was elected treasurer in DeKalb County, little is known about him other than the fact that he designed his home in the 200 block of Sycamore's Somonauk Street. F.W. Partridge was an attorney who began his legal career in the DeKalb County city of Sandwich, Illinois. Later, when he moved to Sycamore, he achieved some notoriety in that profession. During the Civil War Partridge was a breveted Brigadier General. Toward the end of the war he served as DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder; from 1864-1867. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him as ambassador to Siam.

Chappell-Whittemore House

The Chappell-Whittemore House also known as the H.C. Whittemore House, is a historic home in the 200 block of South Main Street in Sycamore. The house was completed sometime 1867 and before 1873. The home is noted for its architectural and historical significance.

Henry C. Whittemore came to Sycamore at a young age, brought by his parents in 1848. He served during the Civil War and after the conflict ended remained a government employee during Reconstruction. As a government employee Whittemore was tasked with helping to reorganize the postal service in the South. He returned to Sycamore in 1867. Upon arriving back in Sycamore he went into the tanning business but after a few years, in 1873, shifted focus to the hardware business. He stayed in hardware for most of life, taking on several different business partners in the process.

Whittemore was politically active, after he left hired government work, both locally and at the state level. In DeKalb County he served as a Sycamore alderman as well as a member of the County Board of Supervisors. At the turn of the 20th century he headed up the building committee which oversaw the construction of the third, and current, DeKalb County Courthouse, another notable historic district structure. At the state level Whittemore served in the 34th Illinois General Assembly and as a trustee at the State Home for Juvenile Offenders in Geneva, Illinois.

Charles A. Bishop House

The Charles A Bishop House, also known as the William Phelps House, is in 500 block of South Main Street in Sycamore.The house started its existence in 1863 attached to the J.H. Rogers/Bettis House, which currently stands next door to the Bishop House. In 1887 the Bishop House was moved, by mule, from its original location. That property became the site for the J.H. Rogers House. When the Bishop House was moved the Rogers-Bettis House was split off from it and planted next door. The property the house stands on today was part of the original purchased by Ellzey P. Young from the United States government by an act of Congress.

Bishop was a highly respected citizen of Sycamore. After coming to Sycamore, from New Brunswick, in 1878 Bishop was admitted to the Bar in 1880. He practiced law with Harvey A. Jones and eventually held the posts of circuit and county judge.Sycamore Historic District Informational Poster, on site, corner of Elm and Somonauk Streets, Sycamore, Illinois. Photograph on Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 17 February 2007

Charles Kellum House

The Charles Kellum House was constructed in 1858 by Charles Kellum. Kellum came to Sycamore in 1855 as an attorney and eventually served in several public offices, including state's attorney and circuit court judge.Sycamore Historic District Informational Poster, on site, corner of Elm and Somonauk Streets, Sycamore, Illinois. Photograph on Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 17 February 2007 The house was once a larger structure than it is today. The building at 123 Lincoln Street, directly behind the Kellum House, was separated from the main house, in the 600 block of Somonauk Street, in the 1920s. The house's owner at the time had a daughter who was getting married and he presented the separated wing as a wedding present for the couple. The roof is multiple gabled and features the distinctive Jerkin style roof. Each of the home's gables contain the element, which is a mesh of the gable and hipped roof.

David DeGraff House The David DeGraff House, in the 900 block of Somonauk Street is just within the boundaries of the Sycamore Historic District. This large, two-story Italianate home is considered a contributing property by the National Register of Historic Places. The house was built in 1867 by wealthy Sycamore farmer David DeGraff.

Dr. Clark House

The Dr. Clark House is another contributing structure to the historic integrity of the Sycamore Historic District. The house stands at the corner of Lincoln and Main Streets in Sycamore. The home was constructed in 1936 for Dr. Clark, a Sycamore radiologist who worked at Sycamore Hospital.Property Information Report, SW Corner of Lincoln & Main , HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 18 February 2007. Clark lived in the home until 1970. The new owners added an addition to the house in 1996 The house was completed in Shingle style and its exterior construction is of brick.

Dr. Orlando M. Bryan House The Dr. Orlando M. Bryan House, stands in the 300 block of Somonauk Street in Sycamore. This Italianate structure was erected around 1866, since that date it has been altered from its original appearance.

Bryan was the "pioneer" physician for the settlement of Sycamore, Illinois, beginning his medical practice in the city that would become the county seat of DeKalb County in 1846. During the Civil War Bryan was charged with running the General Hospital of the Army of the Mississippi. Later he requested and was granted the post of Medical Director and Purveyor of the Department of New Mexico. Bryan returned to Sycamore in 1866.

Dr. Olin H. Smith House The Dr. Olin H. Smith House is located in the 800 block of Somonauk Street in Sycamore. The house was constructed between 1870 and 1877 for Dr. Olin H. Smith. Smith, who was the town's first dentist, was raised in Sycamore and attended Sycamore schools before going to medical school in Philadelphia. He was born October 15, 1856, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the youngest of six children of Martha L. and James M. Smith. On arriving in Sycamore in 1857, the family first settled in a simple farm house on what is now the 800 block of Somonauk Street, before constructing the present house. In 1900 he was elected mayor, a time during which he worked to bring more industry to the city. Dr. Smith died in Sycamore on August 5, 1939. His wife, Lillian Babcock Smith, and daughter Rose Smith Mussell, continued to live in the house until their deaths in 1947 and 1950, respectively. In 1950 the house was sold out of the family.

The Smith House is an Italianate home and one of several such homes along Somonauk Street to have been influenced by the Italianate design of the George P. Wild House. The Wild House is another of Somonauk Street's contributing structures. The Smith House is considered architecturally significant in a historic district where 75% of all structures are considered contributing properties.Sycamore Historic District, (PDF), Illinois Historic Sites Inventory Survey, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency , Retrieved 18 February 2007.

Elmore Cooper House

The 'Elmore Cooper House is listed as a contributing structure to the district's overall historical character. The Elmore Cooper House was built in 1924 by the Sycamore gas station entrepreneur Elmore Cooper. The house is of a Colonial Revival style, with English roots. It features simple lines and proportions, which make it architecturally distinctive. It features an original roof.Sycamore Historic District Informational Poster, on site, corner of Elm and Somonauk Streets, Sycamore, Illinois. Photograph on Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 17 February 2007 Elmore Cooper opened Sycamore's first gas station in 1898, it was located across the street from the DeKalb County Courthouse on Illinois Route 64.

Esther Mae Nesbitt House Once a carriage house that belonged to Chauncey Ellwood, the Esther Mae Nesbitt House is how a home in the DeKalb County, Illinois, city of Sycamore. It stands next door to the Chauncey Ellwood House and is a contributing property in the Sycamore Historic District. The home, in the 800 block of Somonauk Street, was originally Chauncey Ellwood's carriage house. The 1837 building was converted into an artist's studio and, eventually, a residence, by Esther Mae Nesbitt.