Under $100K Sunday – c.1909 Move-In Ready Foursquare in Chenoa, IL Under $100K

From the exterior, this may look like any typical American foursquare under $100k. Then then enter the front door!  After the enclosed porch, walk right into the grand foyer with hardwood floors and beautiful staircase. Pass through the built-in columns into the living room with brick fireplace, then open the pocket doors to view the dining room’s amazing built-in. A gorgeous pantry (I would have put the toilet bowl elsewhere) leads into the kitchen. Just imagine what the original kitchen must have been! Behind the fridge is a door to the rear staircase. UPstairs we find more beautiful, natural woodwork and built-ins, plus stairs to the attic space.

Chenoa (pop 1.785) was founded in 1854 by Mathew T. Scott to provide a retail and trade center for his farm tenants and grain shipping facility. Scott owned Section 2 of the town, while his rival and former business partner, William Marshall, owned section 1. Scott owned a strip of land between the competing towns, and anyone who passed through would be guilty of trespass. Scott called the strip his “imaginary wall.” He was an odd duck, but he did promote his side of town with ads offering that anyone who built a house worth $400 to $500 within six months of purchasing a lot,  two years of credit could be had on the sale price interest free. He also donated sites for churches, schools and cemeteries. Additionally, anyone who sold liquor in his side of town would forfeit the title to their property.

Because the town was laid out by Scot in the middle of nowhere, development was slow going. But by the time our featured home was built, improvements were made. The rickity wooden fences that surrounded each lot were removed, trees planted, electric lights installed and a railroad depot constructed.  Unfortunately, the town was prone to calamities. The entire business section west of the railroad burned down without insurance in 1894. Another fire in 1899 started in the grocery store, killing two men.  Then the railroad depot burned down in 1918 during an Armistice celebration. Fortunately, after automobiles replaced trains, Chenoa became a stop on the famed Route 66. For a while, anyway.

• 4bed
• 1.5bath
• 2,296sqft
• 9,583sqft lot
• Build date 1909
• Google Map
• Property Listing
• Realtor: Re/Max Rising

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