NOBLE-SEYMOUR-CRIPPEN HOUSE

I had to make a trip up to Chicago to take care of my mother-in-law.

Yesterday I was able to run a few errands.

An area that I drove through is Norwood Park.

I fell in love with the area because of the 

big and old beautiful houses there.

I stopped at a beautiful yarn shop.

The name of the shop is Woolly Lamb Yarn Studio.

It is located at 6007 West Nina Avenue.

The store is locally owned.

I fell in love with it.  They have quite an array of yarn.

I felt like I was in heaven with so many choices.

I also made a stop at the Norwood Park Historical Society House.

It is also known as the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House.

Sadly, the house was closed so I could not tour the inside.

But I was able to walk outside and take a couple of pictures.

I was intrigued about the history of the house,

so I decided to find out more about the house.

Here is what I found out.

The house is a mansion and the southern wing, built in 1833,

is considered the oldest existing building in Chicago.

The southern wing of the house was originally used as a farmhouse

by Mark Noble who was a Chicago pioneer.

He was the founder of the first United Methodist church in Chicago.

Thomas Seymour bought the house in 1868.

He added the Italianate style northern wing of the house.

He raised the roof on the older section of the house to build a second floor.

The Seymour family lived in the house until 1916.

Stuart and Charlotte Crippen bought the house.

He was a concert pianist and she was an actress.

The home was going to be their summer home

since it had no plumbing or electricity.

During the 1920's, they installed indoor plumbing

and electricity and added a second stairway.

Their children and grandchildren sold the home

to the Norwood Park Historical Society in 1987.