Six homes on Polo's Holiday Home Tour
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Six Polo area houses will be part of the a Holiday Home Tour hosted by the Polo Historical Society on Saturday, Dec. 5.
The homes taking part will be Scott and Melanie Armstrong, a new home with geothermal heating at 13260 W. Eagle Point Rd.; David and Linda Poole, the restored Russell Poole farm home, 2618 S. Donaldson Rd.; Jay and Karen Cech/Al Almquist, an early Ogle County stone house on 14754 W. Eagle Point Rd.; Troy Boothe and Ashley Millard, a restored 1864 home, 310 N. Franklin Ave.; and Perry Rubino, the 1891 Barber House, 410 W. Mason St.; and the Aplington House, 125 N. Franklin Ave.
The Polo Public Library will also be opened during the time of the entire Holiday Home Tour.
Hours for the tour will be 1 to 5 p.m.
Tickets will be $10 in advance and $12 on day of tour.
Tickets will be sold at Olsen’s Elevator, Polo History Museum, First State Bank Shannon-Polo and Polo Library.
Refreshments will be served at Aplington House where tickets will be sold on the day of the Holiday Home Tour.
Henry D. Barber House, built in 1891 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now owned by Perry Rubino.
The architect who designed the home was Joseph Lyman Silsbee, who had the distinction of giving Frank Lloyd Wright his first architectural training in 1887.
It is unique to have this house designed by Silsbee.
The Barbers were prominent citizens of Polo and one of Polo’s earliest settlers. Henry and his brother Bryant became proprietors of the bank in 1881.
The Queen Anne style in the Henry Barber House persists in the rounded two-story bays on the exterior, and the interior characterized by a plan that includes a living hall with a spiral staircase, and other rooms, varied in size, opening off the hall through wide doors in an irregular manner.
The interior trim is mahogany, cherry, and quarter-sawn white oak.
Painted canvas ceilings and eight fireplaces are a part of this 11-room house.
Captain Stephen Hull’s home is owned by Jay and Karen Cech and was restored by Al Almquist.
Hull settled the land on Eagle Point Road in 1835 and built his cabin before there even was a saw mill in the area.
The floor of the cabin is still there today and part of the kitchen area. A portion of the hand hewn floor can be seen in the basement.
The log walls were soon replaced with stone from the near-by lime kiln using the same blue limestone found today in the Lutheran Church and Judge Campbell’s Law Office.
One can see hand marks of chipping away of the stone. The windows, throughout the house, have wide sills because of the thickness of the stone.
The whole house has been beautifully restored by Al Almquist, member of Polo Historical Society.
At some time the home was enlarged by either the Hulls or the next owner William Illingworth.
Construction shows two different time frames of building with the blue limestone.
The four bedroom two-story house shows many details of the life it lived years ago and graces the country side west of Polo.
The Pearson Shoemaker Home is now owned by Troy Boothe and Ashley Millard and dates back to around 1864 when Shoemaker decided to leave Eagle Point and move into the newly incorporated Polo.
Shoemaker had built the Orient House in 1855-56 and he had someone run it until he decided it was time to head for the big city himself.
He then built his new home on the southeast corner of North and Franklin.
It had two turrets in the front and a large wrap around front porch with a basement under the porch.
Rumors had it harboring slaves traveling the underground railroad and heading for Canada.
By this time that type of activity was declining and so that remains rather doubtful.
The house also has a unique fireplace up through the center of the house that can be enjoyed in two different rooms.
After Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker died in 1890 and 1892, many people lived in the house until it fell into disrepair.
Activity did resume to bring it back to life for a short time until that too failed.
When Boothe acquired the home, he tackled it with great gusto.
The front porch could not be saved and hopefully maybe some day can be duplicated.
The rest of the house has been made great again with one lovely turret a part of the master bedroom.
A family now lives in the restored home and the Shoemakers would be delighted to see it once more as a warm gracious home.
The Linda and David Poole home has been in the Poole family for 141 years and has had four generations of Pool’s living in it.
The farm home was bought by David’s great-grandfather, George Poole in 1868.
His son, Frank lived in the house until the 1940s.
Frank’s son, Russell married Avis Gatz Poole in 1943. They remodeled the original house in 1950 and lived here until 2003.
Russell’s son David and wife Linda remodeled the house, adding a new kitchen and attached garage in 2008.
Several hand hewn beams and stone basement wall, from the original home, date from the 1840s.
The original home was built by the Sanford family. The north portion of the current house dates from the 1850s.
