1844 Judge Barry House at 217 Cedar Ave. in St. Charles, IL.
Judge William D. Barry lived most of his adult life in St. Charles at the residence he had built in 1844 at 217 Cedar Ave. He was a well-known and respected judge who served as the first president of the Kane County Bar Association and as a Kane County Judge for nearly 10 years.
Recently elected St. Charles Mayor Clint Hull was also a well-known and respected judge from St. Charles who served as the Chief Judge of the 16th Circuit Court in Kane County, a similar role that Judge Barry served.
Perhaps this was why the mayor, in an opening statement at the St. Charles City Council Meeting on August 4, 2025 before the fate of Judge Barry’s house was decided, explained that he had been asking himself, “What would Judge Barry expect the City Council to do?”
The mayor offered that he thought Judge Barry would expect him and the City Council to understand the facts, keep an open mind, deliberate among themselves, and communicate their decision clearly to the public. He praised all the members of City Council for doing just that since the appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission’s denial of a demolition permit.
After the mayor spoke, the City Council swiftly voted 7 to 3 against the demolition of the 1844 Judge Barry House.
Since learning about the demolition request for the Judge Barry House, Preservation Partners spent over 130 hours meeting with representatives of the owner, local residents interested in saving the house, members of the public, property developers, alderpersons, and the mayor as well as doing its own research on the home and St. Charles’s historic preservation ordinance. We spoke at the public hearing at the Historic Preservation Commission in October 2024 and wrote several letters to alderpersons and the mayor. The potential demolition even attracted statewide attention in May 2025 when Landmarks Illinois listed the Judge Barry House as one of the most endangered historic sites in Illinois.
Generally, the message from Preservation Partners was that the demolition application did not meet the requirements for approval according to St. Charles’s Historic Preservation Ordinance and the home had high potential for rehabilitation.
City Council appeared to agree.
So, what now?
The fate of the Judge Barry House remains unknown. The owner can do nothing and risk fines for possible building code violations if the building deteriorates. The owner can decide to rehabilitate the home. The owner can sell the house; one written and one verbal offer were made but the owner believed the offers were too low. The owner can submit another demolition request.
While the home is safe, for now, much work is still needed to ensure its long-term safety. Preservation Partners can help by brainstorming with stakeholders on the home's options for adaptive reuse, working with city officials on zoning changes or parking challenges, talking to property developers who might want to buy it, finding local, state, and federal financial incentives, and more. All of this is offered for free through the generous donations and membership fees to Preservation Partners.
Every day a historic building stands is another day it has the possibility of being rehabilitated.
And, for now, the Judge Barry House is still standing.
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For more on the demolition application submitted for the Judge Barry House, click here.
For more news stories about the vote to save the Judge Barry House, see:
Molly Morrow, “Historic St. Charles Home to Remain for Now, After City Council Denies Request to Demolish It,” Aurora Beacon-News, August 6, 2025, https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/06/st-charles-city-council-denies-demolition-for-historic-home/.
David Petesch, “St. Charles Barry House Safe from Demolition Once Again,” Daily Herald, August 5, 2025, https://www.dailyherald.com/20250805/news/st-charles-barry-house-safe-from-demolition-once-again/.
Dennis Rodkin, “St. Charles Won’t Allow Church to Demolish 1840s House on Endangered List,” Crain’s Chicago Business, August 5, 2025, https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/st-charles-wont-allow-church-demolish-1840s-house.