Built in 1872, the Italianate located at 1007 East Jefferson Street in Bloomington Illinois has seen its fair share of history, including 11 owners whose families have added their life stories to both the history and structure of this home.

 

The “David Davis 2nd Addition” was plotted in 1868 as lawyer, land-owner and supreme court justice David Davis sold off portions of the property surrounding his estate.  In 1872 construction began on block 2, lot 5, one of the 15 lots making up the addition.  A Pantagraph article from the time reported, “That part of the city lying east of the Illinois Central depot is being improved this season by the erection of some new residences that are quite a credit to that locality.”, going on to say that Sanford K. Vannatta’s new home was “almost finished” at a cost of about $3,000.

 

Only the front portion of the home was built in 1872, the back wall of the home having been the wall that currently joins the living room to the dining room and the ‘back’ stairwell.  Upstairs would have included the three bedrooms at the front of the house.  It is believed that the now bedroom, on the first floor, just off the living room, served as the original kitchen.  

 

Through the years, many of the home’s owners have made changes: 

• In 1894, George H. Simeral, was reported to “entirely reconstruct the house and make it one of the most elegant residences in the eastern part of the city”.  While no details of the work done exist, we believe it was all done within the same 1872 footprint.

• In 1912, Hibbard O. Davis, then editor of the Pantagraph, hired architect Arthur Pillsbury to complete an addition that more than doubled the sized of the home.  Along with the front porch, the spaces you see as kitchen, dining room and portions of the family room, along with the bedrooms and bathrooms above these spaces were added. 

• In 1941, George Simeral further expanded what you see today as the family room and office spaces, although at the time they were two separate bedrooms.  He also added the back porch and reconfigured several doors and walls throughout the house. 

• Through the 1990’s and 2000’s, the Hume family, made a number of configuration changes, opening up the back family room into what it is today, reconfiguring the front staircase (it used to go straight out to the porch through another door!), updating wood work and generally modernizing many of the home’s features, including the addition of the garage and patio spaces. 

 

Amy and Jeffrey Deaver are the current care takers of 1007 E. Jefferson.