One Monday, the red brick house in downtown Algonquin was among the oldest structures in McHenry County, one of only two remaining buildings constructed from locally made bricks and as sturdy-looking as when blacksmith James Phillip completed it in 1856.
But the next day, those bricks, crafted only a few blocks away at the old Cornish and Plumleigh Brick Mill, lay in a wet pile. A bit of history was buried in the rubble.
An attempt to restore and beautify Algonquin’s historic downtown backfired when the owner of the 142-year-old house at 114 S. Main St. ended his long dispute with the village by demolishing the structure.
“If you don’t have respect for the people who are in the house, you don’t have any business loving the house itself,” owner Carl Kristensen said.
For four years, Kristensen has been fighting with village officials over zoning issues and the placement of the sign for his real estate business. After the village rebuilt the sidewalk along Main Street, officials said the changes had put the sign too close to passing pedestrians.
The village demanded that Kristensen move the sign to avoid safety problems. But Kristensen refused, and the simmering dispute came to a boil six months ago when he obtained a permit to demolish the old building.
“I told them, `If the sign goes, the house goes,’ ” Kristensen said.
Anyone who thought he was bluffing got a big surprise the day a contractor hired by Kristensen brought in a crane and knocked down the 1 1/2-story Greek revival building. Kristensen said he plans to replace the house with a small commercial building.
Village officials and local historians said they were horrified by Kristensen’s action.
“This is a loss to the village of an irreplaceable artifact,” said Jeff Jolitz, chairman of the Algonquin Historic Commission.
Jolitz said that anyone who lacks an appreciation for historic structures has no business owning one, particularly in an area already dotted with shopping centers and strip malls.
“It would be like if you owned the Mona Lisa,” he said. “As an owner, you’re supposed to be the caretaker of that artifact.”
Nancy Fike, director of the McHenry County Historical Society, said the Phillip House was one of only a few dozen built before the Civil War still standing in McHenry County.
“It’s one of the very earliest homes in the county, and the setting was just as it would have been if you had walked into the last century,” Fike said. “It’s a shame that it got caught, I suspect, between the politics of this businessman and the village.”
The dispute over the placement of Kristensen’s business sign began in 1994 when the village refurbished the sidewalks. The sidewalk in front of the house was expanded, taking four feet of his property, and the sign became an impediment to pedestrians, according to village officials.
But Kristensen refused to move the sign, and the case eventually ended up in McHenry County Circuit Court. Kristensen won a $5,000 judgment for the strip of land he lost to the sidewalk. But he was ordered by the judge to replace the sign with a smaller one that conformed with new sign regulations.
Kristensen warned the village that he was fed up with the situation, and in November he took out a demolition permit.
It was about that time that Algonquin officials were growing increasingly alarmed by the prospect of losing historic buildings downtown. As a result, they imposed a moratorium on demolition.
Because he took out his permit before the moratorium took effect, Kristensen wasn’t affected by it. Finally he decided to end the dispute once and for all.
“It’s just not worth it, owning an old house,” he said. “You get harassed.”
Jolitz, of the Historic Commission, said Kristensen destroyed one of the county’s architectural treasures.
“What makes the loss especially heart-wrenching is that the building was in pristine condition,” Jolitz said. “Unlike some other historic structures in town, it hadn’t been remodeled since it was built in 1856.”
Fike said that while the demolition upset her, she hopes that it will help bring together supporters of historic preservation in McHenry County.
Facing rapid development, several McHenry County communities, and the county itself, have adopted preservation ordinances to avoid losing pieces of local history.
It’s too late, however, to save the Phillip House.
Kristensen, 65, once proudly welcomed visitors to the house, which was on the county’s bus tour of historic places.
One day after the demolition, he picked up one of the bricks from the rubble and ran his fingers across it, pointing out the marks formed by the 19th Century laborers who used rakes to form the bricks in their molds.
He also talked about how much he liked the house, which he bought in 1981. He had used it as a real estate office for most of the last 17 years.
“Actually, I kind of wanted to move back into it because I really liked it,” he said.
