Ellwood House Museum

The front of the Ellwood House in SpringA green lawn spreads out in front of the mansion with clear blue skies above and trees covered in pink and white flowers to either side The mansion consists of three stories, two of which are made of red brick…

MUSEUM:

The Ellwood House Museum is a historic site situated on ten acres of parkland in the heart of DeKalb, Illinois.

The museum campus consists of seven historic structures, including the 1879 Ellwood Mansion and 1900 Ellcourt House, four gardens, and 6,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Patience Ellwood Towle Visitor Center, a converted and expanded 1912 multi-car garage.

Originally built for barbed wire entrepreneur Isaac Ellwood, the Mansion was home to three generations of the Ellwood family from 1879 to 1965. In 1965, the Ellwood Mansion was given to the DeKalb Park District by Mrs. May Ellwood and her three children. In 2011, Mrs. Shirley Nehring donated the Ellcourt House to the non-profit Ellwood House Association, Inc.

Today the Ellwood House Association and the DeKalb Park District operate the entire site as a museum.