House Tour in Illinois

The William Howard Thompson House was built in 1868 and renovated in 1901 in the Beaux Arts style by the Chicago architecture firm Watson & Hazelton. Located in Jacksonville, Illinois, the stately, six-bedroom house is a landmark of that city's historic district.




Beneath a crystal chandelier, a small table off the kitchen provides an intimate dining nook.


The straight lines of the bookcase offset the curves of the carved and gilded sofa. A painting hangs somewhat eccentrically above.The sofa is upholstered in linen, similar to the linen-bound volumes on the shelves. Silk pillows.


Tasseled, buttoned "ball-gown slipcovers" dress up gilded dining chairs. Their opulence is underscored by the bare oak floor, outlined in walnut parquet. The Drexel claw-foot table was dark brown until owner Annie Brahler coated it with Sherwin-Williams "Pulmonaria" semigloss paint, deliberately avoiding a precise match with the slipcovers.




Eight-year-old daughter Isabel's bedroom has a bedstead that belonged to Princess Lillian of Belgium.


A slipper tub in the master bedroom.

All images and information from here.