1004 Broadway was built in 1887 for Professor Charles DeGarmo, whom DeGarmo Hall was later named. The Illinois School Journal wrote that, “Mr. DeGarmo is erecting a beautiful residence on Broadway, about half a mile south of the Alton railroad. When completed it will be one of the most attractive places in town.”

 

In 1889, the home was owned by the Peter A. Coen family, owners of the Coen Drug Store on North Street in Normal (currently The Rock Restaurant), as well as 18 lots of the Kersey Fell Subdivision. They lived there with their many children after farming for thirty years in Woodford County. The house and the four lots surrounding it were sold in 1909 after the death of Peter Coen, and the house was occupied by the J.R. Youngs through the 1910s. 

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ISNU Professor and Dean, H.H. Schroeder, lived in the house for three decades until his death in 1949. Coincidentally, a second building was named after a resident of 1004 Broadway – Schroeder Hall (opened in 1957). 

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Dean Schroeder used a novel trick to rid his house of ants in 1933. After lifting the house off its basement walls, a sheet of copper was inserted between the bottom of the house and the top of the foundation to defeat the ants.

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The current owners purchased the property in 2013 when the home was showing many signs of neglect – cracked/falling plaster in every room, wallpaper falling, no air conditioning or insulation. The “good bones” remained though and a passion for restoring the home to its historical beginnings has been a testament to their imagination and dedication. 

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This home was an Old House Gift to the Street recipient in 2018.

 

Things you won’t want to miss:

• The hand rubbed Walnut staircase

• Sleeping porch on second floor

• Butler’s staircase