A fire at a historical DuPage County home over 170 years old caused about $100,000 in damage Monday morning.
The fire at 25W780 Hobson Road in unincorporated DuPage County near Naperville was first called in at 12:19 p.m., according to Naperville fire Assistant Chief Michael Zywanski.
While the fire was extinguished in about an hour, there was "quite a lot of damage" done to the home, in excess of $100,000, he said.
Zywanski called the blaze a "stubborn fire," stating the flames got between many of the walls and under the floors.
The home was built in 1834 by Bailey Hobson, the first white settler to the Naperville area, and is the oldest frame home in DuPage County that is still standing, according to Rita Harvard. Harvard lived in the home for 27 years and has provided tours of the home in the past, she said.
According to Harvard, the home is listed as a DuPage County landmark.
In addition to being used by Hobson, his wife and their 12 children, the home also served as a hotel by farmers who brought their grain to a gristmill built by Hobson to make flour, Harvard said.
The fire Monday appeared to have been contained to an addition that was built by her parents in the 1940s, said Harvard, who went to the site Monday.
She did not know if there was much, if any, water or smoke damage done to the original home. The original home appeared undamaged from the outside, she said.
"It's heartbreaking to see it burn. But if it had to happen, it's the lesser of two evils," Harvard said of the fire being in the addition.
Several windows of the 1940s addition were broken out, and there were a few holes in the walls, Harvard said. There was slight charring on the side of the home as well, she said.
The original home is two stories tall, but the 1940s addition that is in the back of the home is three stories tall, according to Harvard. There have also been other additions to the home built, including one in the 1960s and one in the 1980s, she said.
City News Service contributed to this story.
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