The Colonel Ira C. Copley Mansion, is a historic residence in Aurora,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

History

It was built in 1917 for Col.

Ira Clifton Copley Ira Clifton Copley (October 25, 1864 – November 1, 1947) was an American publisher, politician, and utility tycoon. Born in rural Knox County, Illinois, Copley's family moved to Aurora when Copley was 2 so he could be treated for scarlet fever ...

, the founder of Copley Press and a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Designed by architect

Jarvis Hunt Jarvis Hunt (August 6, 1863 - June 15, 1941) was a Chicago architect who designed a wide array of buildings, including railroad stations, suburban estates, industrial buildings, clubhouses and other structures. Biography Hunt was born in Weathe ...

, the building was completed in 1917 in a blend of

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

and

Federal Style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

trends. It was individually recognized on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978, and is part of the West Side Historic District.

Architecture

Ira C. Copley's mansion was designed in 1906 by

, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and finally completed in 1917. It is predominantly of

design, but has many

features. The mansion is three stories tall and shaped like an "L". An ionic

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

features on all sides, creating a porch that can be accessed from the ballroom. Consistent with Federal details, it has balustrades over the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

. The main roof is hipped with a flat roof over the wings. A twin chimney emerges from the west side of the roof. The main entrance has slender

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and an elliptical

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

between narrow sidelights. The exterior walls are Roman brick in a Flemish bond. The rear features a

Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

with the

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

used to illuminate the third floor. The ballroom was located under the hipped portion of the roof.Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
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External links

National Register of Historic Places

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copley, Ira C., Mansion Houses completed in 1917 Houses in Kane County, Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Kane County, Illinois Copley family Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Illinois