| Hegeler Carus Mansion | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
 Interactive map of the Hegeler Carus Mansion area | |
| General information | |
| Status | Under Restoration |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| Completed | 1876[1] |
| Owner | Hegeler Carus Foundation |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | William W. Boyington, et al.; Fiedler, A. |
| Main contractor | Edward C. Hegeler |
Hegeler-Carus Mansion | |
   | |
| Location | LaSalle, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°20′9.5″N89°5′13.6″W / 41.335972°N 89.087111°W /41.335972; -89.087111 |
| Built | 1874 |
| NRHP reference No. | 95000989 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 9, 1995[2] |
| Designated NHL | March 29, 2007 |
TheHegeler Carus Mansion, located at 1307 Seventh Street inLa Salle, Illinois is one of theMidwest's greatSecond Empire structures. Completed in 1876 forEdward C. Hegeler, a partner in the nearbyMatthiessen Hegeler Zinc Company, the mansion was designed in 1874 by noted Chicago architectWilliam W. Boyington. The mansion is now owned and operated by the Hegeler Carus Foundation, and is open to the public. It was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 2007.
Boyington, the architect who designed the mansion, is noted for theChicago Water Tower, theJoliet State Penitentiary, and for completing theIllinois State Capitol. The interior was done by August Fiedler, who designed a unique parquet floor and hand-painted ceiling for each public room.[3] The mansion, which has seven levels, has 57 rooms[4] with a total of about 16,000 square feet of interior space.
The Hegeler Carus Mansion was initially home to Hegeler, his wife Camilla Hegeler, and their large family. In 1887, Hegeler launched theOpen Court Publishing Company to provide a forum for the discussion of philosophy, science and religion, and hired the German scholar Dr.Paul Carus to serve as managing editor. The company was located on the first level of the house. In 1888, Carus married Hegelers’ daughterMary Hegeler, who had worked alongside her father as a young girl and was the first woman to graduate from theUniversity of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1882.[5][6] The couple had seven children, six living to adulthood and raised them in the mansion.[7]
The mansion is where Carus wrote over 70 books, countless articles and served as editor of two scholarly publications,The Open Court andThe Monist. Carus invited editorial contributions from the likes ofCharles Sanders Peirce,William James,Leo Tolstoy,F. Max Müller,Gottlob Frege andBertrand Russell. Carus hosted a historical meeting ofEast andWest immediately after the1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, bringing together eminentOriental religious scholars. This led to Open Court's publishing program emphasizing classics of eastern religious thought.Zen scholarD. T. Suzuki spent 11 years in La Salle working with Carus on this programme.
Mary Hegeler Carus took over running theMatthiessen Hegeler Zinc Company from her father and also ran part of Open Court, eventually taking over as editor with Carus' death.
Paul Carus died in 1919, and Mary lived in the house until her death in 1936.[8] The house was occupied mainly by their children. In 2001, its sole resident was 99-year-old Alwin Carus, one of six children of Paul and Mary,[4] who died in 2004.[9]
In 1995, the Hegeler Carus Foundation was created. That year, the mansion was put on the National Register of Historic Places.[4] In recent years, members of the Carus family and others have done much restoration of the mansion. On March 29, 2007, the Hegeler Carus Mansion was designated aNational Historic Landmark.[10][11][12]
In 2008, the foundation launched a project to reassemble the mansion'sgymnasium and its apparatus, considered to be a unique surviving example of a late 19th-centuryturnverein-stylephysical culture facility.[13] The foundation also owns theJulius W. Hegeler I House, located directly across the street, which is undergoing restoration.
In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, Hegeler Carus Mansion was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places[14] by theAmerican Institute of Architects Illinois component (AIA Illinois).
The mansion hosts numerous public programs, and is open for public tours. It is particularly notable for its highVictorian stencils and wall and ceiling paintings, its woodwork, and its history.
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