Joseph Steffens House

The Joseph Steffens House is a historic house located in eastern Carroll County, Illinois, east of Milledgeville. Settler Joseph Steffens built the rammed earth house in 1843; it is the only surviving rammed earth house in the state. Rammed earth construction uses soil to build walls by pressurizing it in molds; the method was common in continental Europe and saw some use in 18th-century eastern America and in the Great Plains and Southwest during the Great Depression, though it was rare in Illinois. While Steffens claimed that he borrowed the construction method from his former house in Canada, he was also likely influenced by American authors who promoted the method and a local timber shortage.[2]

Joseph Steffens House
Joseph Steffens House is located in Illinois
Joseph Steffens House
Joseph Steffens House is located in the United States
Joseph Steffens House
Nearest cityMilledgeville, Illinois
Coordinates41°57′59″N 89°43′3″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1843 (1843)
Built byJoseph Steffens
Architectural styleRammed Earth
NRHP reference No.85000771[1]
Added to NRHPApril 10, 1985

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1985.[1]

This house no longer stands; there is no existing structure. It collapsed in the late 2000s. This site is now a cornfield.

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Sculle, Keith A. (August 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Steffens, Joseph, House" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-23. Retrieved June 22, 2014.


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