Couple to restore historic Galesburg home to former glory
A couple is working to restore a historic Galesburg home to its former glory.
The home, originally owned by W. S. Purington in the 1890’s, figures into Galesburg’s rich history. Purington was the co-owner of the Purington Brick Company in Galesburg, which was once the largest producer of brick pavers in the world, in the early 1900’s. The home has since been a designated landmark by the City of Galesburg Landmark Commission. The new owners of the historical home say they want the community to benefit from their restorations.
“We’d been looking for about a year to restore a historic home,” homeowner Jakki Pettitt said. “We happened to find this house. We knew the minute we walked in that we wanted it.”
After 20 years in Arizona, the Pettitts made it all the way to Illinois to restore a historical house for their retirement plans. “My husband is involved in architecture,” Pettitt said. “We’ve been restoring homes and doing our own DIY stuff our whole marriage for 33 years.”
The Pettitts want to make the historical home a bed and breakfast and a tourist destination that everyone can enjoy. First, they need to take care of all the issues that they faced when they bought the house. “Somebody had enough love to build the house this way,” Pettitt said. “We hope to be able to capture that love and bring it back to where it came from. Purington Brick Factory was just right down the road.”
“People came back from World War II saying Purington bricks were in Paris,” homeowner Alex Pettitt said. “They saw them all over the world. This was the home base for the man who created that little piece of history.”
The Pettitts can’t restore the house by themselves. They say community carpenters and plumbers have offered to help them during their initial cleanout of the property. “That’s been the neat part,” Pettitt said. “We just asked for the help, and they said ‘sure; we would be happy to.’ They came in droves, it was neat.”
The home may not be finished now, but the future is looking bright for the over 130-year-old home. “We want to do more with the community,” Pettitt said. “We want to be able to have Santa visit on Christmas and take pictures with the kids. We want this to be something that is given back to the community so they can feel like they can come in and experience the history, too.”
The Pettitts say the house should be prepared to welcome visitors from all over the area to community events starting this holiday season.
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