Preservationists race to find a new owner of a free historic house in Elgin, but there’s a catch

CHICAGO (CBS) — Want a free house? That’s what’s being offered in Kane County as preservationists race against a looming deadline to save a home with historic significance.

As CBS 2 Morning Insider Tim McNicholas reports, there’s always a catch.

The clock is ticking on Tollgate Road.

This house built in 1967 and designed by an architect who once lived there needs an owner by April 1.

“Someone’s gotta save this house! this is an awesome house!”

Elizabeth Finkelstein has been showcasing the property through her Cheap Old Houses Instagram page, which features historical homes for under $100,000 or, in this case, zero dollars.

Tim: “Wow, for free?”

Elizabeth: “It’s being offered for free, as long as you can move it, there’s always a catch with these things.”

The house was designated as a historical landmark in 1996 but lost that status last year when the city of Elgin annexed the property.

Now a new development is moving in, and the house must go by the end of this month.

“Once it’s gone it’s gone, and this house has so many original features that people love from that era,” Finkelstein said. 

Moving the home could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and as the nonprofit Landmarks Illinois explains, that’s not the only challenge.

“Most likely it would need to be cut in half is the basic way to say it, so that 2 sections could be moved on two flatbed trucks.”

Nonetheless, Landmarks Illinois is fighting to save the house.

They wrote a letter urging the city’s Heritage Commission to “help facilitate a possible preservation solution.”

“This is not a throwaway home, it has not only beautiful design but from a materials perspective it’s a home that really could have been adapted to office use.”

It will either be the end of a story, or the start of a new chapter for this historic house.