The Cook Memorial Library, also known as the Ansel B. Cook House, is a historic house museum in Libertyville, Illinois, United States. It was built as a Victorian house for contractor and politician Ansel B. Cook in 1878. In his will Cook donated the home to be used as a public library, although it remained for many years the residence of Cook's longer-lived widow. After Emily Barrows Cook's death, the building received a major Neoclassical renovation that converted it into a library, opening to the public in 1921.[2]
Ansel B. Cook Home | |
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| Location | 413 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 42°17′14″N 87°57′19″W / 42.28722°N 87.95528°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1921 |
| Architect | Ansel B. Cook |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000867[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 16, 2001 |
By the 1960s the library had outgrown the space available, and voters approved a referendum to construct a new library. The new facility of what is now the Cook Memorial Public Library District opened directly behind the Cook House in 1968.[3]
The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[1] Today the Libertyville–Mundelein Historical Society operates the house as a Victorian house museum.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "The Ansel B. Cook House". Libertyville–Mundelein Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
- ^ Pantle, Gabriella (February 2012). "Cook Memorial Library History" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-31.
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External links
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Media related to Ansel B. Cook House at Wikimedia Commons